Icy Curse
by Meiousei Dark
Summary: Everything is normal after the two left the Unknown, but soon Wirt finds out that the Beast has left a curse on him. Wirt now spends all his time writing dark poetry and thinking dark thoughts. He starts resenting his parents, his brother, his friends, all due to a curse that will turn him into the Beast himself. Now there is only one person who can save him. Gregory.
1. Chapter 1: Hero

Chapter 1: Hero

"Alright class" the teacher said "Your assignment is to write a personal essay on your hero. Make it as detailed as possible and it has to be at least 300 words. Remember, this will count for half of your semester grade, so have fun with it."

The sound of the dismissing bell vibrated through the school building, signaling that it was time to go home. Little Gregory had a lot to think about once he got home. Who was his hero? He would have to think hard about it if he wanted a good grade on the assignment.

He exited the building and walked straight into the chilly air of the outdoors. He had to wait for his brother to come pick him up. It was really cold outside, he hoped he could be picked up soon. He decided to start thinking about his hero assignment. Maybe his hero could be a comic book character, or a character from one of his favorite books or movies. He had to think about it.

He was distracted from his thoughts, when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. In the distance, he spotted a tall figure with brown hair, wearing a deep blue coat. "Wirt!" Greg shouted. The little boy ran across the school campus, almost tripping a few times. "Wirt! Wirt!" the little boy yelled.

When he got closer to his brother, Gregory's foot collided with a rock. "Whoa" Greg said. He tripped on the rock and was about to fall flat on his face, but Wirt acted quickly. He ran up to his brother and got on his knees. He held Greg up by the shoulders and pushed him back up, standing. "Be careful" Wirt said, sternly but sweetly "I don't want you getting hurt."

"I won't. I promise." Wirt smiled. He dusted himself off and grabbed onto his brothers hand. It hadn't been that long since the two boys got lost in the Unknown. They had barley just come back from Thanksgiving Break. Wirt would never forget about how he almost lost Greg, and even now, it still haunted him.

He had made a vow to himself that he would be a better brother to Gregory and would tolerate more of his shenanigans. He had also vowed not to judge people by the way they seemed, and would be more open to new people from now on. He was more open to his step father, and now the two were getting along just fine. He still wouldn't call him Dad, though, at least not yet. He grew more of a backbone and became less of a pushover. He started thinking for himself more often. He still wasn't keen on the idea of joining the marching band. Clarinet was a hobby he preferred to do in private, or in front of his family.

Him and Greg continued their walk home from the Elementary school. It was a Friday, so the boys had all weekend to do whatever they wanted. Greg still had his assignment to work on. The two soon made it to their front door. When they opened it, they were welcomed by a sweet aroma. "Smells like cookies." Greg said. The boys entered the kitchen and found a plate of cookies sitting on the table. Wirt read the note attached.

"We're going to be gone for a while, have some cookies to warm you up." "COOKIES!" Greg said, exited. Since Greg was too short to reach them, Wirt handed one to him. "Here you go, Greg." "mmm cookie." The little boy ate the delicious cookie in record time. Wirt took more reserved bites of his cookie. The cookies were gone in less than an hour, and that was mostly due to Greg. Wirt didn't mind so much, he wasn't all that hungry.

Greg got up from his chair on the table. "Well, gotta get started on homework." "Homework?" Wirt questioned "But its Friday. Teachers hardly ever give out homework on Friday. Especially elementary school teachers."

Greg crossed his arms. "Now Wirt, this is a very important assignment. It is worth half of my semester grade, and I need to get started on it as soon as possible." "Really?" Wirt asked, sadness clearly present in his voice. "Uh huh." Greg turned to leave the kitchen.

"Greg, wait." Greg turned to face his brother. "What is it, Brother O' Mine?" the little boy asked. "Just…" Wirt tried to find the right words. "Just, don't grow up too fast, okay?" Greg giggled. "I don't even think that's possible." He headed off to his room. Wirt smiled. He didn't think that Greg growing up was anymore possible than Greg himself did. He was okay with that. He would want his brother to have a fun, happy childhood. Wirt decided to go upstairs and practice his clarinet some. 

* * *

><p>Greg sat at his desk with a piece of paper and a freshly sharpened pencil. "Okay, who is my hero?" Gregory questioned. Jason croaked from out of nowhere. "Oh Jason Funderburker, you can't be my hero, you're a frog." Jason let out a sad croak. "It's okay, you're still my friend and I love you." Greg gave Jason a big hug, and the frog croaked in delight. "Okay now, back to work."<p>

Greg got his serious look back on. "Now, who can I write about?" all of a sudden, he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He opened it and found his older half-brother standing in the doorway. "Hey Greg, have you seen my ligature?"

Greg looked up at his brother in realization. How could he have not seen it before? His big brother, the gnome pilgrim, was his hero the entire time. Greg smiled, than grabbed onto his brother's leg, pulling it into a big hug. "My hero" Greg whispered, so quietly that not even Wirt could hear what he had just said. "What was that?" Wirt asked.

Greg stared up at him with shiny eyes. Wirt bent down to reach his brother's height, and Greg wrapped his hands around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. Wirt returned the hug and wrapped his arms around his little brother. "Now, about that ligature." Wirt said when the hug ended. "Lick a chair?" Greg asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No, ligature, you know, the part that connects the reed to the mouthpiece." Greg continued to give him a confused stare. "For my clarinet." Greg shrugged. "I don't know, but you can have this golden ring I found to cheer you up." Greg opened a desk drawer and pulled out what seemed to be two golden rings connected by another piece of gold metal and two knobs for tuning."

"Greg, that's my ligature." "It is?" Greg asked, eyeing the golden thing. "It doesn't look like a chair." "No Greg" Wirt sighed "Can I please have it?" "Sure thing." Greg handed his older brother the golden ligature. "Thanks Greg, I'll just leave you to your homework now." "Okay, have fun licking chairs with your clarinet." Wirt gave a little smile and closed the door behind him. Greg smiled.

"My hero, my brother O' mine." 

* * *

><p>Later that night at about around one in the morning, Greg woke up from a nightmare. He had been having nightmares a lot recently. He had another nightmare about being turned into an Edelwood tree again, and seeing the sad look of regret on his brother's face. The little boy knew that there was only one person who was good at comforting him after he had nightmares.<p>

He hopped out of bed. He opened his bedroom door and entered the hallway. He started walking, and stopped when he found the door to his big brother's room. He silently opened it, and closed it behind him.

"Wirt" the little boy said, rubbing his tired eyes. "Yeah, Greg?" the older boy asked from underneath the covers. "I – I had another nightmare about being a tree, c-can I sleep with you?" Greg waited a few second. Wirt pulled the covers back, gesturing for the younger boy to go over. Gregory walked across his brother's room and climbed onto his bed, with Wirt's help of course.

"Thanks Wirt" Greg said, tired. "You're welcome, Greg." Wirt wasn't sleeping all too well either. He had just woken up from a similar nightmare, this one about his brother being turned into a tree and the regret he felt for letting it happen. He figured with his brother sleeping next to him, he could peacefully sleep, knowing his brother was okay.

He wrapped his arms around the young boy, while Greg got toasty underneath the blankets. Wirt smiled. For the rest of the night, the brothers slept peacefully underneath the warm blankets. No nightmares to be spotted. The two dreamt about all the good times they had together. They dreamed about the Unknown, and Beatrice, and Sara. Well, Wirt was the one dreaming about that last thing.

Greg continued to dream about his times with Wirt, his big brother and his hero.


	2. Chapter 2: Sick

Chapter 2: Sick

The next morning, Greg woke up in Wirt's bed. Wirt was still fast asleep, so Greg decided to leave him asleep until he woke up on his own. He hopped out of his brother's bed as quietly as possible and stepped onto the floor. He quietly opened the door, about to exit the room. "Sleep tight, Wirt." He said, and quietly shut the door behind him.

The little boy made his way back to his own room. His parents had called earlier and said that they had to go away on business, and they wouldn't be back for a while. Greg was fine with that. All that meant was more time with his hero. He opened his bedroom door and saw that Jason Funderburker had taken up his entire bed. "Jason Funderburker, you naughty frog." The frog croaked. "It's okay, Jason Funderburker, just ask next time." The frog croaked again.

Greg sat on his bed next to his frog. He dug through a notebook he used for school. "I guess I could draw for a little while. Here, what do you think of this one?" Greg shows a picture to his frog, of what seems to be a bird. The frog croaked a monotone croak. "You're right, Beatrice could use some more finishing touches." He took a pencil to the paper. "Now what do you think?" he asked the frog. Jason gave another croak as usual.

"Silly Jason, you can't have this one" Greg shuffled through his notebook of drawings "But you can have this one I drew of you, singing." He shoved it toward the frog. Jason croaked with pleasure, or what sounded like it anyway. Greg and Jason continued to draw and look through drawings, and discuss drawings. He had drawn pictures of Lorna, Endicott, the giant dog, and the turtle with a piece of candy on its back. Nothing could break the bond between the boy and his frog.

* * *

><p>At around 11:00, Greg and Jason snuck into the living room and turned on the television. Usually his parents would be watching the morning news, but they weren't around to tell him what to do. Greg giggled as he thought that. He clutched his frog tightly as he watched one of his favorite cartoons. All of a sudden, he heard a strange noise coming from upstairs, that kind of sounded like a moaning zombie.<p>

It was revealed that the moaning was coming from a sick looking Wirt. "Wirt, what happened?" Gregory questioned. Wirt sat on a chair at the table. "I feel terrible" he said, almost sounding like Jason -the human- Funderberker. "Where are mom and Tim?" "They're not back yet, but don't worry Wirt, I have just the thing!" he started digging around in one of the kitchen drawers until he found a thermometer.

"Open up" Greg said. Wirt didn't even get a chance to respond, instead, Greg shoved the thing in his mouth. When the thermometer gave off a beep, Greg removed it and looked at the temperature. "Whoa! 102 degrees! You should be resting in bed mister!" Greg chastised. "Greg, I don't need…" Wirt was cut off. "Now now, off to bed with you."

Wirt, knowing he was too sick to fight with his brother, turned and headed back upstairs. "You wait in your room, I'll be up there to take care of you in a minute!" This time, Greg decided that he was going to be the hero.

He started preparing some soup in a pot. He followed all the instructions as best he could, until finally, the soup was done. He waited for the soup to cool down, then carefully poured it inside a small bowl, careful not to pour too much. He then carefully took the bowl out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He made it down the hall with the soup, and opened his brothers door.

Wirt looked and sounded terrible. He had come down with a cold. "Here you go Wirt, I made you some chicken soup to make you feel better." Greg handed his brother the bowl of soup with a spoon. "Thanks Greg" Wirt said with a sniffle as he accepted. "Okay Wirt, I'm gonna take care of you today, so whatever you need, just tell me and I'll get it for you."

Wirt sniffled. "Can you get me some tissues?" "Right O'" Greg said, as he turned to leave the room. Later, Greg came back with some tissues for his sick older brother. "Here you are, Wirt. Do you need anything else?" Wirt sniffled. "Not right now." "Okay, just call if you need anything." Wirt smiled as Greg left the room.

* * *

><p>Wirt felt terrible. He had a major headache and it was killing him. He had already finished the soup that Greg had made for him, and he still didn't feel any better. He thought that resting would make him feel better, so he hid himself completely underneath the covers.<p>

He had almost fallen asleep, when he heard a strange noise. It almost sounded like whispering. The older boy shot straight up, breathing in and out. Then he came to the conclusion that he was just hearing things because he was feverish. He started to slowly fall asleep, when he heard the whispered voice again. This time, he could make out what it was saying.

"Come to me."

It said in a voice all too familiar. Wirt shot up from underneath his covers once again. "Greg, I know you're just messing with me!" he yelled. There was no response. "Greg!" he yelled again. This time, he could hear the pitter patter of little feet running down the hallway.

"What's wrong?!" the little boy asked, worried. Wirt was confused. "What? You mean you weren't….huh?" "Are you okay?" Greg asked, a little less panic-y. "Uh, yeah…yeah, I think so." Greg smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Alrighty then, just holler if you need anything." Greg turned and left his brother to rest. Wirt slowly started falling back asleep, and soon, it was as if none of it happened in the first place.

* * *

><p>Greg wondered if sick people acted weirder than usual. Of course they did, but his older brother's outburst was….strange to say the least.<p>

Greg never actually left like Wirt thought he did, but instead, the little boy stood outside his room, ready to be there incase anything happened.

He stood outside the room for about a half hour. He didn't hear anything coming from inside the room, so he slowly opened the door and peaked inside.

He saw a lump underneath the covers, breathing. Greg sighed in relief.

He slowly crept into his older brothers room, careful not to wake him. He slowly removed a little of the blanket, revealing Wirt's face. "Sleep tight, my little Wirt." Greg whispered. He planted a kiss on his brother's forehead. Wirt stirred a little, which made Greg giggle to himself. He then left his brother to rest.  
>-<p>

* * *

><p>"Come on, Wirt, let's go already."<p>

"Alright, alright, be patient."

"Come on you two, we'll never get to Adelaide's at this rate."

The two brothers and their grumpy bluebird companion kept walking through the forest known as the Unknown. Wirt found it all too familiar. He felt inside his pocket, until he found a pair of golden scissors with a bird looking handle.

"Here Beatrice, these are for you." The bird looked at the scissors, then a look of shock covered her face. "Where did you get those!?" she asked. "I stole them, from Adelaide." "But, we haven't even been to Adelaide's. How…" Wirt cut her off.

"Save it Beatrice. I know Adelaide is evil and you were pulling us into a trap this whole time." Beatrice's expression did not leave her face. "Why don't I just snip your wings right now?" the boy offered. "But Wirt, if you snip her wings, than she can't fly." Wirt smiled at his brother as he explained. "Sniping her wings will turn her back into a human." "How, how did you know that?!" Beatrice asked, shocked. Wirt smirked. "Do you want me to clip your wings or not?"

Beatrice thought about it for a second, then spread out her wings. "Do it." Wirt went to work and snipped off the bluebirds wings. When the wings feathers were gone, Wirt closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, he was in the presence of a beautiful girl with a brown triple bun hair style and a long blue dress.

"Thank you Wirt. I still don't know how you knew, but thank you."

Wirt smiled. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his little brother running off into the dark woods. "Greg!" he yelled after the boy, running after him into the woods. "Wirt, wait!" Beatrice yelled, but she couldn't get him to stop. The older boy kept running through the woods, almost losing his gnome hat a few times. "Greg! Greg!" he yelled, worried.

He came into a forest clearing and saw his brother wrapped around a bunch of leaves, slowly turning into a tree.

"GREG!" Wirt yelled.

He immediately joined his brother and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Greg, no, no, Greg please, please don't leave, I'm sorry, I'm sorry Greg, just please don't leave me." He received no response. He felt a hand touch his shoulder and turned around to see Beatrice with a saddened expression.

The two suddenly heard dark laughter vibrating through the forest. Beatrice grabbed Wirt's face and planted a kiss on him. "I have to go Wirt." She said, standing up. "But, Beatrice." "I'm sorry." The girl took off into the dark woods. Wirt turned back to the laughter, and saw the one thing he never thought he'd see again.

That monster known as The Beast.

"Well Wirt, it wasn't very wise of you and your brother to come back into my domain." Wirt growled "Just let us go!" he yelled. The Beast just laughed. "There is another way, you know." "What? You'll put his soul into the lantern, forcing me to keep it lit, when I'll really just be keeping you alive! Yeah, that's not going to happen!"

The Beast laughed a deep laugh. "Actually, I was going to propose, for exchange of his life, you are to become my successor." Wirt was shocked by the sudden proposal. He looked back to his limp brother. "Become your successor" he mumbled "so I can take souls from others just to keep mine alive." He looked back up at the villainous thing. "I don't think so, you heartless bastard."

The Beast laughed louder than ever. "Fine, just watch your brother perish!" The dark entity disappeared. "Greg, Greg please wake up." The little boy never moved a muscle. "Greg, Greg, please Greg, wake up." He received no response. The pilgrim with a gnome hat started to sob. Sobbing for his brother and for the fact that his life would never go on. His sobs started to grow louder and louder. "GREG!" he yelled. He continued to sob, until he could be heard no more.

* * *

><p>"GREG!"<p>

Wirt shot up out of bed. He was sweating hard and his heart was beating fast. He took deep breaths to try and calm himself down. The door busted open. "Wirt, are you okay!?" the little boy frantically asked.

Wirt scooped his brother into his arms. "You're okay, you're okay, I'm so glad you're okay, I was so worried, I , I, I…."

"You had a nightmare again, didn't you."

Wirt was silent. He continued to stare at his brother, and then he smiled, knowing that it was just a nightmare and it couldn't actually hurt them. "It's okay, Greg." He said calm and smiling. "Nightmares can't hurt anyone." Greg smiled, knowing his brother would be okay.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Greg slept peacefully. His parents had come home late, and they were proud of him for taking care of his brother while he was sick.<p>

He didn't mention the outburst, though.

Greg slept with Jason Funderburker on the other side of the bed.

And in that moment, it seemed as if his heart started to slow down.

His heart slowed so much, that if it slowed anymore, He would likely not wake up.


	3. Chapter 3: Warning

Chapter 3: Warning

"Greg, hey Greg, can you hear me?" The little boy struggled to open his eyes from still being tired. "Wirt?" the boy asked, unsure. "No, Greg, just wake up, you've been sleeping in forever." The voice sounded familiar, but Greg couldn't piece it together just yet.

Finally, his eyes adjusted and he was able to see the owner of the voice. He was in the presence of a teenage girl with brown hair and a long blue dress. The boy was confused. "You're not Wirt!" "I know, I just told you that." The girl rolled her eyes. "Well then, who are you?" "Greg, it's me, Beatrice." "You're not Beatrice, Beatrice is a bird."

Beatrice scoffed. "Remember those golden scissors?" she asked. "Uh huh" Greg nodded. "I used them to turn me and my family back into humans." Greg gasped. "You're a human?!" "Yup." "Whoa!" The girl glanced back up at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "We don't have much time" she said.

"Greg, I need to talk to you. It's incredibly important." Greg gave the girl a salute. "Yes ma'am" he said and put his hand at ease. Greg looked around the room they were currently in. "What room is this?" he asked. "This is my bedroom." The former blue bird answered. "How did I get here?" "Come with me Greg, and I'll explain everything."

* * *

><p>The boy and the blue bird sat in Beatrice's living room, drinking tea her mother made. They were sitting in two chairs across from each other. "I really need to talk to you about something important." The girl spoke.<p>

Greg slurped his tea. "What is it?" Beatrice grabbed her hair in her hands, looking like she was having an internal conflict with herself. "Ugh, I was struggling about how to tell you, but I'm just going to come out and say it." The teenage girl closed her eyes and took in deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, she looked Greg straight in the eye.

"Wirt is in danger."

Greg was shocked. "Danger!? He was fine the last time I saw him! Why is he in danger?!" Beatrice sighed. "Greg, do you remember when Wirt found out that the Beast's soul was in the lantern?" Greg nodded, remembering the terrible night. "Well, it seems that the Beast isn't entirely gone." The girl glanced back up at the clock, than turned back to Gregory. "The Beast was afraid that his secret would be found out, so he implanted his legacy curse on Wirt."

Beatrice stood up and walked to the other side of the room, with her back facing the boy. "It actually makes perfect sense, considering….." "Considering what?" Beatrice mumbled under her breath, so quietly that Greg couldn't hear what she had said.

"….the legend of how the Beast came to be…."

A few seconds went by. Beatrice looked up from her thoughts and turned back to Greg. "That's nothing for you to be concerned about." She said "The point is, your brother is in danger." Greg didn't know what to do with the news he had just received. If Wirt was in danger, he knew he had to help in whatever way he could. "How do you know all this?" the young boy asked.

Beatrice sighed. "Whispers told me. She appeared here the other day and told me she saw a terrible vision of the future and that I had to bring you here and warn you of the terrible premonition."

The two were silent. A minute passed before the youngest of the two spoke again. "What will happen to Wirt?" he asked, sounding almost on the verge of tears.

"If that curse sets in, then Wirt will eventually become the Beast. He will be a formless creature without a soul. He will become heartless and care for nothing or no one. He will travel the unknown in search of lost souls and eventually turn them into the horrid Edelwood trees." Beatrice paused, reluctant of what she was about to say next. "He would even do it to you if he got the chance."

Greg couldn't believe she was saying this. If he knew his brother, than he knew that he would never do anything to hurt him. If anything, he would be the one to save him if he got into trouble.

Their tete a tete was interrupted as a woman walked in with a tray of cookies. "Here you, go you two" the woman said as she sat the tray on the table in the middle of them. "Piping hot dirt, fresh from the oven." Beatrice rolled her eyes. "Mom, would you please stop calling it dirt?"

The woman looked at her daughter, smiling. "Are you going to turn us into blue birds again if I don't?" Beatrice eyed a rock lying randomly on the table, than smirked. "That can be arranged." She said, slyly. Her mother laughed. "Just eat up." She left, leaving the two to their cookies.

While the two were eating, Beatrice looked across from her and noticed that he wasn't eating much. He had taken little nibbles of his cookie, which was unusual for him, considering when cookies were presented to him, he would eat so many that in the end, he'd already be on a sugar high. "Are you okay, Greg?" Beatrice asked, already knowing the answer to her own question. Greg shrugged. "I just don't want Wirt to become a scary beast." A tear slid down from his eye.

"I'm sorry Greg, I shouldn't have told you all of this at once, I know it must be hard to take in." The girl stood up from her chair and made her way over to the little boy. She enveloped him in a tight embrace, and he hugged her back, tears flooding from his eyes. "It's okay Greg" she said to the boy, but before she knew it, she was shedding tears as well.

All this time, she was just using the brothers to get her family's curse lifted. She would always tease Wirt, calling him a dork or whatever name she could think of, but after a while, she began to really like Wirt. She even thought she might be starting to like him as more than a friend.

Greg finally made up his mind. "I want to go home." He said as he broke away from the hug. "What?" Beatrice asked, unsure of what he just said. "I said, I want to go home. I want to help Wirt in any way I can, so he doesn't become the Beast."

Beatrice stood and silently made her way over to the window. She pulled the curtains back to reveal that the sun was already going down. "You woke up so late in the day, I can't believe we had this much time to talk." Beatrice turned back to the little boy. "You have to fall asleep in my bed to get home." She said "It's how you got here, so it's what you have to do."

Greg nodded in understanding. The two made their way upstairs and opened the door to the former blue bird's bedroom. Greg, without any hesitation, hopped into the girl's bed. Beatrice tucked him into the bed with the blankets tight. She then kissed him on the forehead. "Say hi to the dork for me when you get back, okay?" she smirked. Greg gave a thumbs up. "Sure thing, ma'am" he said, saluting. Beatrice smiled, then walked out the door, leaving the boy to a peaceful slumber.

* * *

><p>"Greg, Greg, come on, wake up already." The sleeping boy squinted. "Beatrice?" he asked. "Beatrice? No, I'm not Beatrice." The voice said, annoyed. Greg had adjusted his eyes to see a brown haired boy as the source of the voice. "Hey, you're not Beatrice."<p>

Wirt sighed. "Yes Greg, I know I'm not Beatrice." All of a sudden, Greg recollected in his memory about what had just occurred in the Unknown. "Wirt!" Greg gasped. He pulled his brother into a hug and looked up at him with his shiny eyes. "I'm gonna make everything okay Wirt, I promise." The older boy had no idea what he was talking about. "Um….okay…..yeah, yeah you go do that, you go make everything okay." He said with a smile "I know you will, you always do."

Greg smiled up at his brother. "I will." Just then, Greg realized something. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked. "Well, judging by the clock, you slept in till almost noon. I guess you got so tired from staying up last night, that you completely slept in." Greg smiled.

"Beatrice told me to tell you she said hi, I remember, she specifically told me 'Say hi to the dork for me when you get back, okay?' and I was all like 'Sure thing ma'am'" Greg saluted like he did in that moment. Wirt smiled. "Yup, that sounds like something Beatrice would say."

Wirt then remembered something very important. "So Greg, tonight is the Tree Lighting Ceremony in the town square, and I was wondering if you would like to come with me to see it." Greg then smiled brighter than the tree itself.

"YEAH! TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY!"

The little boy ran excitedly out of the room and around the house, yelling in excitement. Wirt smiled. He still had little idea about the curse however, but he shouldn't have anything to worry about. After all, Greg had promised he would make it all okay. Little did he know, that this was one of the last few times he'd see his brother smile.


	4. Chapter 4: Silver Nights

Chapter 4: Silver Nights

After Greg woke up from his late slumber, he was busy preparing for the tree lighting ceremony, in which he would accompany his older brother and hero. The little boy thought it might be one of the last fun moments they would spend together, so he had to make the best of it. Greg was still fearful of the future and what would happen to his brother, but for now, he decided not to tell Wirt so it wouldn't get in the way of the fun.

Gregory could hear the familiar sound of a clarinet coming from a few rooms over, so he decided to check on his big brother and listen to him play. The young boy opened his bedroom door and closed it behind him. He trotted down the long hallway and opened the door to his brother's room ever so slightly. Wirt was completely focused on his clarinet, not noticing his younger brother's presence.

Greg quietly stepped into the room and quietly left the door ajar behind him. Greg had recognized the familiar tune his brother was playing. It was a song entitled 'Silver Nights'. Wirt had started to play the song more often, since it was almost the holidays. He felt he could spread a little more holiday cheer through the music.

Greg picked up a sheet of paper with the lyrics to the song. He read over the lyrics and in his head, matched them with his brother's song. When the song ended, Greg gave his brother a round of applause, startling the older boy. "Greg, don't sneak up on me like that." "I'm sorry, I just love your playing, I'm not here to make you join marching band, if you don't want to, that's fine."

Wirt blinked. "Really, what about all those times you tried to talk me into it?" Gregory shrugged. "Just do what you want, I guess." Wirt looked back at his clarinet, then sighed. He looked back up at his brother.

"Do you, um, want to hear some more songs?" Greg got exited, as usual. "Yeah!" he said. Wirt picked out a random Christmas song and begun to play it. Greg listened attentively to his older brother's enchanting music and cheered him on all the way. Wirt, even with a fear of being mocked by his peers, could always count on Greg to encourage him on whatever he did.

He didn't realize it six years ago, when Gregory was just an infant, but Wirt found himself incredibly fortunate to have him in his life. Greg was the light of his life, and he wouldn't do anything to extinguish it. Little did he know how wrong he was. 

* * *

><p>Greg was in a better mood than he had ever been since his return from The Unknown. He and Wirt were walking toward the town square for the ceremony. Greg, being the energetic little boy he is, skipped with his brother holding his hand. "Come on Wirt, it's going to start soon." Greg said, dragging his brother along. "Alright, just slow down." The older boy said with a smile.<p>

Greg was all wrapped up in warm clothes and ear muffs, while Wirt was wearing his long deep blue coat. Greg remembered some of the songs from the reverie of clarinets and Christmas songs from earlier in the day. Wirt had played songs like Jingle Bells, Up on the Housetop, and one of Wirt's favorites, Silent Night. He even threw in Rudolph for Greg.

But Greg's favorite tune from the list of songs, was none other than Silver Nights. He had learned the lyrics by heart and they were patiently waiting to be released. Greg couldn't help it, so he decided on his way to the tree, he would spread some Christmas cheer through song.

_"You're the best present ever"_

"Life's a snow globe when we're together"

"Like a Norman Rockwell picture"

"Brother, brother, it's crazy, how we're"

"Walking around this frozen town"

"I'm wrapped up like a bow"

"In your arms, shooting stars"

"Bouncing off the snowflakes"

"Falling down and decorating"

"All the tender lights"

"There's nothing like these silver nights with you"

Greg smiled up at his brother. "I dedicate this song to you, Brother O' Mine." He said, poking his cheek with his finger. Wirt smiled, and Greg continued the song.

_"Streets are crowded, stores are busy"_

"Sippin' cocoa, I'm just wishing"

"That there will be mistletoe so you might kiss me"

Greg sung that last lyric with his finger on his cheek. Wirt smiled and decided to join his brother in the song.

_"Walking around this frozen town"_

"I'm wrapped up like a bow"

"In your arms, shooting stars"

"Are bouncing off the snowflakes"

"Falling down and decorating"

"All the tender lights"

"There's nothing like these silver nights with you"

The two brothers stopped walking, when Greg spotted a beautiful sight in the sky. "Look, Wirt, look at that!" The two brothers spotted a beautiful giant moon in the sky. "Look at that moon! It's like the king of the sky, climbing and climbing to its rightful throne in the night." Greg said, trying to mimic his brother's poetic use of words.

"While soon to be forlorn and forgotten as the milk light of moon fades away into the memories of those who have gone and shunned by those who have come." Wirt said, finishing for him.

The two laughed at their little poem and looked back at the scene of the moon. The two realized that they left something unfinished. The two smirked at each other as if they could read each other's minds. The two instantly broke into song and sang as loud and cheerful as they could. 

"Walking around this frozen town"

"I'm wrapped up like a bow"

"In your arms, shooting stars"

"Are bouncing off the snowflakes"

"Falling down and decorating"

"All the tender lights"

"There's nothing like these silver nights with you"

Wirt lifted Greg up so they could be at the same eye level.

_"There's nothing like these silver nights with you"_

The two erupted into laughter as the song came to an end, receiving strange looks from people. They didn't care though, they were having too much fun. The brothers finally composed themselves and continued their journey to the ceremony. 

* * *

><p>The town was decorated with beautiful ornaments, tinsel, and decorations as far as the eye can see, but the most beautiful place in town was the town center. In the center, there stood a beautiful 30 foot tree with unlit lights and a dull giant star on the top. Wirt and Greg were watching from the balcony of a two story coffee shop that was pretty close to the tree.<p>

The two brothers were sitting at a table and drinking hot chocolate. The air was chilly and it was getting colder as Christmas was drawing nearer. The boys could see the mayor standing in front of the crowd at the base of the tree, signaling that the tree was about to be lit. The brothers walked towards the edge of the balcony and watched the ceremony. Greg was able to see it through the rail bars. The mayor was saying something, but they couldn't hear what he was saying.

Then all of a sudden, the tree lit up with beautiful bright Christmas lights that illuminated the entire town square, and to top it off, the big star on top glowed brighter than any lights. Greg marveled at the sight. Just then, the little boy felt two arms wrap around him and hoisting him up. "I love you Greg" Wirt planted a kiss on the young boy's cheek. "I love you two, Wirt" Gregory hugged his brother and kissed him on the cheek. Wirt smiled and sat his brother down as the two continued to gaze at the beautiful Christmas lights.

Greg's mind started to slip into thinking about the curse that Beatrice had warned him about. He would have come along with his brother anyway, but another reason he came, was because he suspected that this would be one of the last few good moments he would spend with his hero. Greg could not let that happen. The brothers stared at the lights for some time, than decided that they should head home.

The two were walking on their usual route home, when Greg decide to start a conversation. "Wirt, are you feeling okay?" he asked, cautiously. "Yeah, actually, why do you ask?" Greg stared at the ground. "I-It's nothing." Wirt didn't look entirely convinced. "Are you okay?" "Y-Yeah, it's just…" Greg was silent. "Just what?" Wirt raised an eyebrow "Is there something you know that I don't?" Greg didn't know what to say. The little boy looked up at his hero brother with shiny eyes. "Wirt?" "Yes, Greg?" Greg smiled.

"There's nothing like these silver nights with you."


	5. Chapter 5: Headache

Chapter 5: Headache

"Off to school, off to school, we're going off to school." Greg sang as he and his brother walked on the sidewalk, on their way to Greg's school. Wirt didn't have school until later, so he could take his brother to school with enough time to get ready. Greg was skipping along the concrete and dancing and singing his improvised song.

All of a sudden, Wirt felt a pounding headache inside his skull. It was so sudden, and it came without any warning. The older boy toppled over, holding his hand to his head. Greg went in to panic mode. "Wirt! Are you alright!?" The only sound the older brother could muster, was the sound of an unearthly sounding moan. "Don't worry, I'll get help."

The little boy ran over to a nearby telephone booth. He called 911 and told them the situation and where they were located. Wirt would be proud of his brother, that is, if he wasn't toppled over in pain at the moment. The older boy started to hear ringing in his ears, which only got louder and louder.

"Wirt! Wirt! Stay with me Wirt!, Wirt, Wirt, WIRT!"

His little brother's screams was the last thing he heard before the ringing completely took over his ears. The boy felt his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier with each passing second. He couldn't prevent it any longer. Wirt closed his eyes one last time and blacked out on the concrete. His little brother's eyes were wide with horror.

Wirt couldn't remember what happened next, except for loud noises, flashing light, and people murmuring to each other, there was really nothing he could remember. Images of his brother's worried face filled his mind. He thought about how much he loved his young brother and how he hated seeing his brother so worried.

He thought that it might be his fault somehow. He couldn't remember how, but a feeling told him it was his fault. He thought he would have to tell him was sorry for, well, whatever it was he did this time. But as long as Greg still needed him, he had a reason to fight the darkness that engulfed him.

* * *

><p>Wirt woke up later. His head still hurt, but not nearly as much as before. He observed his surroundings, with eyes still blury. The surroundings seemed familiar, but his mind couldn't quite piece it together, yet. He saw a book type thing lying on a nightstand next to it. He picked it up and attempted to read it, hoping he could make some sense of the situation. He tried to make out the title of the book. And then he realized something. "Is this…my poetry journal?"<p>

His eyes started to become clearer as he observed his surroundings better. He was in his own room, lying in his own bed. "What happened?" he asked, rubbing his head, trying to remember. "The last thing I remember was…" Wirt gasped "Where is Greg?" he asked, concerned. The boy made his way downstairs, where he ran into his mother and step dad.

"Wirt, you're finally awake" his mother said "You've been asleep for a while now." "What happened?" Wirt asked "How come I don't remember anything?" His step father spoke up. "While you were taking Greg to school, you blacked out because of some kind of major headache. Greg called the ambulance. He was very concerned."

Wirt's mother cut in. "You should be in bed getting rest." "What about Greg?" "The ambulance drove him to school. He wanted to stay home with you to make sure you were feeling okay, but we told him that he could see you when he got back, if you were awake." Wirt looked down at the floor. "Major headache." He murmured to himself. He heard a croak. He turned around and saw Jason Funderburker lying on the couch.

"Come on, Jason" he said, picking up the frog. "If you can sing, than you can learn to play the clarinet, or maybe even the bassoon." Wirt's mother raised an eyebrow. "But you don't even play the bassoon." Wirt smirked. "I think you'd be pretty amazed with my bassoon playing skills, mom." His mother chuckled. "And what's this about Jason Funderburker being able to sing?"

Wirt's step dad cut in. "I think that headache has made him a little bit crazy." He said, moving his finger in a circling motion around the side of his head. Wirt smiled and took the frog up to his room. Wirt was determined to teach the frog to play clarinet, then the two could perform shows together. About an hour went by, and Wirt still could not get the frog to cooperate.

"I guess you're only magical in the Unknown." The boy said. The frog croaked. "Although, something is telling me that you're a lot smarter than you let on." The frog croaked again. Wirt could see the intelligent glint in the frog's eye, and he knew that the frog knew more than everybody thought. The frog was smart enough to sing a song off of the top of his head with lyrics that were really well written and composed.

"Don't worry buddy, I know how smart you are." The older boy stroked the frog's back, and he croaked again. "Hey um, do you maybe want to discuss some poetry? Or are you going to judge me because I just admitted I like poetry?" the frog croaked in what sounded like agreement. About which question, Wirt didn't know, but he decided to take it as an answer for the first question.

"Okay then" he said as he pulled out a book of poetry. The two kept chatting and croaking about various poems and poets for the rest of the hour, with Jason Funderburker, no longer having to hide his intelligent glint.

* * *

><p>Greg came home from school and rushed up to his brother's room. Wirt eventually got back to feeling worse and he decided to rest. Gregory ever so gently opened the door to his brother's room. Wirt was sitting up in bed, holding his hand up against his forehead. "Wirt, are you okay!?" the little boy asked frantically. "Um, yeah Greg, I'm fine."<p>

Wirt was spreading his arms, about to welcome his brother in for a hug. Greg saw this, and was about to get ready for a hug, when suddenly, Wirt stopped and retracted his arms underneath his blankets. Greg looked a little disappointed, but decided to shrug it off. "So, what have you been up to?" the little boy asked. "Nothing much, mostly teaching Jason how to play the clarinet."

Greg's face lit up. "Wow, he can play the clarinet?" "Not yet, but he's a smart frog. With a lot of hard work, I know he'll be great at it." Greg smiled. "So, what do you want to do while you recover?" "Um Greg, I don't mean to be rude but, my head hurts and I need some rest, could you please leave for a little while?" Greg held a little look of disappointment. "Oh, really?" he asked.

"I mean, it's really sweet that you care and all, but…" "No problem, I get it. You get your rest now." Greg smiled at his brother. "Get well soon" he said with a thumbs up. Greg left the room, leaving his brother to rest. Wirt's expression suddenly turned into a scowl. An all too familiar voice entered his head.

"Good. Don't show your brother any affection."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD! Wirt yelled "I'LL HUG MY BROTHER IF I WANT!" the voice laughed. "And yet, you didn't." Wirt had to think about what the voice had said. He didn't feel like he was being controlled in that moment, but he knew he was. He had to remember he was being controlled by The Beast.

"What do you know?" Wirt said, breaking the silence. "Greg can cure my headache better than any amount of rest." "You will soon understand everything, my successor." "I am not your successor! Get that through your thick Edelwood skull!" The Beast laughed a deep laugh. "Soon you will see things my way." Wirt shook his head. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The Beast only laughed. "I'll leave you for now and let you think about things, but remember, you will soon become me." "I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU!" The Beast went away, and Wirt was lying on his bed, exhausted from yelling. The Beast was back. That much he put together, but why? Why was the horrible monster doing this to him? He had to figure it out. Soon.

* * *

><p>Greg sat in his room, working on his hero essay assignment for school. He loved Wirt, but he didn't really feel comfortable writing about his hero, when he knew what his hero was going to become. Not by choice though, never by choice.<p>

He had titled the essay 'My hero, My Brother O' Mine.' Greg felt a tear fall from his eye as he thought about the horrible events of the future. Greg still needed his brother, and he wasn't ready to lose him. He wouldn't ever be ready.

The assignment wasn't due till after Winter Break, so he had plenty of time. He looked over at Jason. "What should I do about Wirt?" he asked the frog." Jason croaked. "Maybe I could talk to Beatrice about it, but I don't know how to get there." Jason croaked a suggestive croak. "You're right, I should find out more about what's happening. In the meantime, I need to work on my assignment."

The young boy kept writing about his hero brother. He never missed a detail when it came to Wirt. Jason's intelligence shimmered like a star, unfortunately, Greg didn't notice. Oh well, maybe another time. The frog smiled and croaked a happy croak.


	6. Chapter 6: Poetry

Chapter 6: Poetry

It had been a few days since Wirt's abnormal headache, but for these past few days, things have been a bit strange, mostly due to the fact that Wirt seemed to be purposely avoiding Greg for some reason. Greg would often ask what was wrong, but when he tried, Wirt would just ask to be left alone in as polite a tone as he could.

Greg knew something was wrong. He thought that maybe the curse was slowly taking over his hero brother and it was making him pushed Greg away. The young boy had recently come up with a way to win the older brother's favor. He was currently sitting on his bed, reading a book that he had taken from Wirt's room. He was writing down and researching various poems and poets, in hopes of writing a successful poem of his own.

He had actually learned a lot about poems and he was sure that whatever he came up with, his brother would love. He had consulted his frog many times, but all Jason could do was croak his answers. That didn't stop Greg from interpreting, though. He had learned that poems didn't have to rhyme and they didn't have to be very long either.

He had learned many different types of poems such as limericks and haikus, but he wanted to write a serious poem that talks about how much he loves his brother. It was hard, because his brother was the serious one, not him. However, he would give it his best shot in order to make his hero brother feel better, and hopefully after he heard the poem, he would give him a hug. Greg just loved hugs from Wirt.

When Greg was finished, he handed the poem to Jason Funderburker and asked him what he thought. The frog croaked in what sounded like approval. The young boy took it as approval and smiled. He got off of his bed and took his poem, ready to serenade his brother through heart written words.

When he opened the door, he saw Wirt walking through the hallway to his room. The older boy didn't acknowledge his presence at all, but Greg could have sworn that he saw Wirt glance at him. He stood and watched as his brother walked silently down the halls and into his room. Greg sighed. "Here goes nothin'."

He walked over to the door of his brother's room. Instead of knocking or just walking in, the boy sat outside the door, looking at his poem. Meanwhile, Wirt was on the other side of the door, feeling miserable.

Because of the stupid curse, he couldn't acknowledge his brother without getting hurt. He wasn't allowed to hug his brother to let him know that everything was okay. He thought about how much it might be killing Gregory. He hadn't seen him smile these past few days, so he figured it must be killing him. A lot. Wirt was sitting, leaning back against his bedroom door with his face buried in his hands.

What was he supposed to do? Some insane evil monster wanted him for purposes that are yet to be ascertained, and it seemed that with each passing day they didn't talk to each other, they would be growing apart. Wirt was snapped out of his thoughts, when he heard the person on the other side of the door.

"Wirt, I know you might not be talking to me, but please listen." "Greg" Wirt whispered to himself. Greg cleared his throat and began to read. The poem was entitled 'Dearest Brother.' 

"Dearest Brother, Dearest Brother O' Mine"

"I don't know what it was I did this time"

"But could you please make a choice"

"On whether or not to let me hear your voice"

"Please answer this question, yes or no"

"On whether or not to hug me and never let me go"

"Please Please answer please"

"On whether or not you'll comfort me when I can't sleep"

"When I have nightmares about becoming a tree"

"Will you be there to comfort me?"

"I know you may not want to see me"

"So how about listening instead"

"No matter what, I will comfort you"

"Just like a big warm bed"

"Dearest Brother, Dearest Brother O' Mine"

"I know something's going on and you don't have the time"

"But do not fret, just always know"

"That I will always be with you, no matter where you go"

A tear fell from Wirt's eye as the poem came to an end. His brother had failed to realize that he was dying inside from all this. He wanted to talk to him, he wanted to hug him, he wanted to comfort him, he wanted it more than anything right now. "Greg" he whispered. He was reaching for the door knob, ready to comfort his young brother.

"NO! STOP! DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!"

The headache returned with full force. Wirt fell backwards with a hand on his forehead. Wirt landed on his back in the middle of his bedroom floor, when his headache stopped. Tears started pouring from his eyes.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he sobbed. "You had to be punished for your actions" The Beast said "You are not allowed to show your brother any love or affection." Wirt continued to sob. "I can't take this" he sobbed "I love him too much to ignore him." "Yes, while that may be true for now, your love for him will start to diminish over time."

"No no no no no no no." Wirt mumbled to himself. "I ignored him many times, and I almost lost him. I will never make that mistake again." The Beast laughed. "Remember this Wirt, you cannot love your brother. He is a distraction to the plan." "WHAT PLAN!?" Wirt yelled after The Beast. He received no response.

"ANSWER ME, YOU COWARD!"

The Beast had left his mind for now, so yelling after him was pointless. Wirt continued to sob, until his tears almost dried up completely. The boy gathered all of his strength and pulled himself off of the ground. He thought instead of wallowing on the floor, he could wallow in his own bed.

His eye caught his poetry journal sitting on his nightstand, so he decided to pick it up and started to write some poetry of his own. He wanted Greg to know how much he loved him and how much this was killing him inside. He began to pour out his feelings and emotions in ways he had never done before.

All he wanted to do in that moment, was tell his brother he loved him, and that he always would, no matter how grim things looked right now. He loved Greg, and he wanted to tell him that, no matter how much it would hurt. 

* * *

><p>It was now late at night. Everybody in the house was asleep. Except Wirt.<p>

The older boy opened the door to his bedroom and quietly closed it behind him, making sure not to wake anyone up. He quietly crept down the hall with his poetry journal in hand, until he finally came upon his young brother's bedroom door. He opened the door ever so slightly and snuck inside the dark room.

He closed the door and stood in the corner of the room. He was watching his brother from afar, breathing underneath the covers. Wirt smiled slightly, knowing he was okay. The boy opened his poetry journal and searched for the right poem. He looked back up at his brother, than began to read. The poem was entitled 'Staying Away'. 

"I never wanted to stay away"

"I want to wrap my brother in my arms"

"Let him know everything is okay"

"And that I have not come to any harm"

"But something is preventing me"

"This terrible monster inside my mind"

"Not letting me do as I please"

"And slowly killing me inside"

"My dear brother, oh how I love you so"

"You may think I've been ignoring"

"When you pass me by"

"But secretly I've been mourning"

"And crying every time I close my eyes"

"My dear brother, oh how I love you so"

"I am not strong enough to ever let you go"

"But even though this monster is forcing us to stay apart"

"Just remember that I love you with all my heart"

The house was quiet once again as the poem came to an end. Greg and Jason were fast asleep. Wirt didn't think that Greg even heard him, but he just wanted to get it off of his chest. The older boy sighed and turned to walk out the door.

"I love you too, Wirt."

He was startled to hear his brother's voice in all the silence. Wirt looked back at his brother. He was still breathing underneath the blankets. He saw Jason Funderburker was awake, and that he heard the whole poem. The frog smiled and winked at Wirt, telling him it was a job well done. Wirt silently left his brother's room and made his way back to his own. He slept peacefully that night, dreaming about all his times with his brother in the Unknown.


	7. Chapter 7: Silence

Chapter 7: Silence

Wirt and Greg were walking home from Greg's school one cold day. The walk home was silent. Wirt had not spoken to Greg ever since he read him his poem. Greg was silent also, but he knew what was going on and he knew his brother loved him. He just couldn't show it right now.

Greg was still looking for a way to reverse the curse and free his brother so that he could finish his essay and maybe even show it to Wirt. He hadn't actually told Wirt that he was his hero. The older boy was aware that Greg looked up to him, but not in a hero sort of way. After all the times he ignored Greg, Wirt wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the hero in Gregory's life.

The two boys walked on, until they eventually arrived at their front door. Wirt opened the door and the brothers entered the warm living room, only to see their parents sitting on the couch and watching T.V. They looked up to see the boys standing in front of the door. "Oh hello boys, how was school today?" Their mother asked. Greg finally spoke for the first time since the walk home. "It was okay I guess, but it was still school." Greg said in a neutral voice.

"Oh, and how about you Wirt?" The older boy nodded and gave a thumbs up. Their mother raised an eyebrow. "Not talking, huh?" Wirt shrugged. Greg silently walked upstairs to his room and Wirt followed. Wirt had arrived at his door, since it was closer to the stairs. The teenager watched as his younger brother silently walked to his door without a skip in his jump or a song in his heart.

The sight was depressing.

He watched as the young boy opened his door and entered his room. When his brother's bedroom door shut, Wirt let out a sigh that he was holding in forever. He opened his own door with thought of Gregory following him inside. He laid down flat on his back as he looked at the ceiling from his bed. The familiar voice returned.

"Well, I see you're home from school." The Beast said. Wirt was silent. He didn't even acknowledge the voice that had been tormenting him. "Oh, you're not talking to me?" Wirt didn't answer. "Be that way then, it only means that the plan is working." Wirt finally spoke.

"Are you going to punish me?" he asked. "What?" The Beast was surprised by this question. "Are you going to punish me?" He repeated "For writing my brother a poem. Telling him I love him. If you are, then go ahead. I really don't care anymore." The Beast was silent for a second, than spoke again. "I really should punish you for your actions" The Beast paused "But I won't"

"Wait, what?" The teenager was surprised by what The Beast had just said. "You won't?" "No, if I punish you now, than it would ruin everything." Wirt squinted his eyes as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Whatever" he muttered in a non-caring voice. The Beast continued. "I have done all I can for you. I will now leave you and let you figure things out for yourself. You will soon become the new Beast of the Unknown."

Wirt continued to stare at the ceiling, not saying a word. The Beast was about to leave, when Wirt stopped him. "Hey, wait a second" he said. The Beast growled. "What is it?" he asked. "I was wondering something?" "Make it quick!" The Beast snapped. "How did you become you? I'm pretty sure that would be one interesting story." The Beast snarled. "You'll never know my origins!" he hissed. "Alright, alright I was just asking, don't get all defensive."

The Beast left Wirt's mind in order for Wirt to figure things out on his own, whatever that meant. Wirt sighed. He had lately been wondering about the Beast's origins and how the dark monster came to be. That was the least of his problems right now.

Wait a second.

If The Beast was gone, then that meant that he could talk to and hug his brother without getting punished. He smiled for the first time since he woke up this morning. He excitedly ran over to his door and opened it without a care in the world. He ran down the hallway and stopped in front of his brother's bedroom door. He knocked as fast and as loud as he could.

Little Gregory opened the door to reveal his brother standing in front of the door with a huge smile. Greg didn't have time to react. Wirt immediately got down on his knees to Greg's height and pulled him into his arms. "Oh Greg, my dearest brother, oh how I love you so." Wirt planted multiple kisses on his brother's forehead and Greg giggled as this happened.

"Does that mean the curse is broken?" the little boy asked. "I just love you so…wait what?" Wirt looked up at his brother. It was silent for a second, until Wirt spoke. "You know about the curse, don't you?" "Well I, I, I just…" Greg didn't know what to say. It was silent for what seemed like hours. Wirt looked down at the ground as he spoke. "No Greg. The curse isn't gone. I've just been let off the hook for now."

"Oh" Greg said, obviously disappointed. Wirt looked back at his brother. "But that doesn't change the fact that I love you and I always will. He pulled Gregory into a tight embrace. "Don't worry, Wirt. I'll make everything okay, I promise. Wirt smiled. "I know you will, you always do." Wirt pulled his bother in and started giving him more kisses. "I love you Wirt." Greg said.

"I love you too Greg. I love you so much. And don't you forget it." Greg giggled and hugged his brother tight.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Greg slept better than he had slept in a while. As he continued to dream about his times with Wirt, Jason was awake, reflecting on his thoughts. The frog had opened the window curtain to let the moonlight in.<p>

Jason croaked as he looked at the beautiful full moon, hanging in the sky. He was watching over Gregory like a guardian angel, making sure that nothing happened to him while he slept. Jason croaked. Everybody thought he was just a simple frog who didn't retain much and just went with things, but he was a lot smarter than most people thought.

He had to keep his intelligence a secret for now. Wirt had already found out, so there was no trying to hide it from him. The frog looked back at the moon. It was always said that the full moon was good for predicting the future. The frog looked back down at the sleeping boy, than spoke.

"Oh Gregory, my boy, if only you knew what was going to happen next."

The frog sighed and looked back at the moon. Things were only going to get worse, and Jason knew it.


	8. Chapter 8: Alone

Chapter 8: Alone

Well, The Beast was gone, but Wirt felt like he was still there somehow. For the past few days, all he's been wanting to do is writing poetry in his room.

By himself.

Alone.

He hadn't been spending much time with Greg lately. Greg was working on his assignment. Funny, Wirt had never even thought to ask what Greg's assignment was about. Oh well, he'd probably find out sooner or later.

The teenager pulled out his poetry journal and was about to write some poetry. Just then, he saw his door open up a bit. "Greg, I really…" Wirt started, only to find out that the one who opened the door was not Greg, but Jason Funderburker. "Oh, it's just you Jason."

The frog croaked. Jason hopped over and jumped on to Wirt's window ledge and croaked again. Wirt smiled. Little did he know though, the reason for Jason entering the room.

Jason was going to keep himself updated on any changes involving Wirt or the curse. He was the family pet, so he had to perform his job well as the all seeing eye. Wirt let the frog be and decided to start writing his poem. The older boy was unaware however, that the frog was sitting on top of a shelf next to his bed, watching attentively as the boy wrote down the words to the poem. The poem was entitled 'Neutral.'

"Grey is now my new favorite color" 

"It is my favorite color, because it seems to be the only color" 

"It's neutral, just like my life these past few days" 

"Without the light, it's been dark" 

"Without the day, it's been night" 

"I feel I don't have strength to argue" 

"Or strength to pick a side" 

"But it doesn't seem I can get rid of this neutral feeling inside." 

The poem came to an end quickly. Jason raised an eyebrow at the poem.

'He's been feeling neutral, eh?'

The frog thought. Jason croaked, startling the teenager. "Oh, Jason, I forgot you were still here." Jason hopped down from the shelf and on to Wirt's bed. The frog started nuzzling the boy the same way a cat would. Wirt smiled and started stroking the frogs back. Jason smiled. The frog decided to leave Wirt to his poems, so he hopped off back into Gregory's room.

Jason had to figure out how to tell the young boy what was going on with his brother without talking. If the curse was ever going to be removed than Greg needed to know these things. It was important that the day to Wirt's night knew what was going on. Jason took out a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote down the poem that Wirt had already written.

After the poem was written down, Jason put the page in his mouth to make him look like he took it instead of wrote it. He hopped in to Gregory's room and found him working on his essay assignment. The boy noticed something in the frog's mouth. "Hey Jason Funderburker, watcha' got there?" Greg removed the paper from the frog's mouth and read it. "Wait a second, this is one of Wirt's poems." The boy turned to the frog. "Did you take one of Wirt's poems? You naughty frog."

Jason croaked in defense. Greg took another look at the poem and read it more thoroughly. "Did you bring me this to help me with Wirt's curse?" Greg asked. Jason croaked in what sounded like a yes answer. "Could you help me some more?" The young boy asked. Jason croaked in agreement. "Great, now together we can help with Wirt's curse!" Greg shouted excitedly. 

* * *

><p>Wirt felt colder than normal, so he wrapped himself up underneath his blankets. He hugged his poetry journal tightly to his chest. Something about his normal moods and habits were definitely changing. In his own little world, it was covered in eternal night. There was no sun. There weren't even stars or the moon to guide him through his own world inside of him.<p>

There was just a seemingly endless forest engulfed in the darkness of the night. Wirt's mind wandered over to his brother. He hadn't been with Greg lately, so he figured that maybe he would do something with him later. He just didn't feel like it right now. He stuck his arm out from underneath the covers so he could feel the air around him. It was getting colder to him for some reason.

He glanced at his gnome hat, which was sitting on his desk. He didn't know why, but he had the strangest urge to put it on. He decided to shrug it off for now and put it in the very back of his mind. He hid his head underneath the covers to protect himself from the cold. He opened his poetry journal and started to read some of the poems he had written. He had continued to read in the darkness and coldness of his room.

Alone. 

* * *

><p>Greg continued to sit on his desk and work on his hero assignment.<p>

He had nothin'.

The kid was staring blankly at his paper trying to figure out what to write. He knew that the curse was getting to Wirt, but he didn't know how to stop it, but with Jason's help, Greg could monitor his transformation through written words. He figured he could learn what was going on inside his brother's head with forged poetry. Well, it had to be forged, since Wirt would notice if his poems were being stolen and it would be kind of hard for Jason to keep it a secret after that.

Greg reread the neutral poem a few times and figured that feeling neutral was only scratching the surface of the legacy curse. These past few days, Wirt had asked to be alone on more than one occasion. Greg knew that some alone time for people was necessary, but the young boy had a feeling that this wasn't good.

Greg couldn't stand being alone. He would never want to be alone so he didn't want Wirt to be alone either. Being lonely was way too painful and he would never want his brother to go through that.

"Naughty curse" Greg said "Why are you so mean to Wirt?"

The little boy continued to stare blankly at his paper, trying to come up with a solution to save his older half-brother. Jason Funderburker croaked from the other side of the room. "You're right, we just need to work harder to save Wirt." Greg turned and petted his frog. "You're a good frog, Jason Funderburker." Jason croaked.

Gregory pulled out a blank sheet of paper. He pulled out a pencil and started drawing something on the paper. When he was finished, he showed his drawing to Jason. It seemed to be a drawing of Wirt, Greg and Jason, and Beatrice in the Unknown. "Well, what do you think?" the boy asked the frog. Jason croaked in approval.

"Alright!" The young boy cheered. He pinned it up to a bulletin board on his wall. "This is the goal. This picture will help remind us of our goal and hopefully we can reach it." Jason croaked in agreement. As the two cheered, Wirt was lying in bed in his cold room. No one to talk to. Just lying underneath the covers in his cold, dark room.

Alone.


	9. Chapter 9: Locked

Chapter 9: Locked

It was almost December now, and it seemed that with every passing day, the curse would be setting in more and more. Jason was doing a great job spying on Wirt, that is, until that one time.

Wirt had noticed that Jason always entered his room right before he started a poem. He grew rather suspicious about it to the point where he wouldn't even let Jason into the room because he felt like the frog was watching him. Jason, being as smart as he is, always found ways to sneak in to Wirt's room without him noticing.

Today, the frog was eyeing Wirt's latest poem from on top if his shelf. After the boy wrote the poem down, Jason knew that he had to make a silent escape. He silently hopped down from the top of the shelf and silently hopped over to the door. It was locked.

_'Rats'_ the frog thought to himself. He silently hopped behind Wirt's dresser. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear what was going on. Now all he had to do was wait for the right moment and escape.

He could hear a pencil writing on paper. The sound went on for a while, than it stopped. Jason grew curious at this. He listened a little while until he heard creaking. He peaked out from behind the dresser and saw that the door was wide open. Jason saw this as his chance. The frog sprinted toward the door, eyes focused on his escape. When he finally was about to leave, the door slammed shut.

Jason realized it was a trap set for him. He looked up to see the tall human looming over him. "You're not running from me, Jason Funderburker." The older boy picked the frog up in his hands. Jason squirmed until he was finally able to evade Wirt's grasp. The frog shot over to Wirt's bed and grabbed his poetry journal in his mouth.

"Hey, you put that down!" Wirt yelled after the frog. Jason quickly opened the window next to Wirt's bed. The human lunged at the frog, determined to get his poetry back. Jason opened the window and quickly leapt out with the journal in his mouth. Wirt attempted to grab the frog's foot as Jason jumped out the window. The older boy was about to grab Jason's foot, but in a split second, Jason escaped. A split second later and the frog would have been caught.

Jason hopped out on to the grass with the poetry journal, not looking back as an angry Wirt slammed his windows shut. Jason stopped at the lawn mower and looked back at the window he just jumped out of seconds ago. The frog croaked. He knew he might be betraying Wirt's trust, but he would do it if it kept him safe.

* * *

><p>Wirt was still in his dark room, angry about his encounter with the frog. "Stupid Jason Funderburker, stole my stupid journal, and jumped out the stupid window." Wirt muttered to himself. Just then he heard a knock on his bedroom door. "Wirt, it's time for dinner." Came the voice of his little brother. Wirt went over to the door, and was about to open it, but then he stopped.<p>

He figured that Jason must have been showing his poems to Greg for some reason. He retracted his hand and decided not to answer. He opened his closet door and dug through it until he found another journal that barely had anything written in it. He went over to his bed, ignoring the knocking on his door.

"Wirt, mom says to come down for dinner!" The older boy continued to ignore his brother. "Okay, I guess you're not hungry right now, that's okay." Wirt could hear footsteps in the hall, signaling that Greg had left.

Wirt made sure to always have his door and window locked and the curtain over the window. He ripped out the pages of the journal that had been written on. They were mostly old shopping lists or whatever. He started writing his fist poem in the journal entitled 'Behind the Closed Door.'

"The only security I have"

"Is within these four walls, protected by the closed door"

"The only comfort I can find"

"Is within these four walls, protected by the closed door"

"Even though it is cold, dark, and lonely"

"I am protected"

"Protected by these four walls and protected by the closed door."

"I keep hearing inner voices wondering what might lie behind the closed door"

"Something sweet perhaps, something not so much"

"They keep saying that sunshine listens behind the closed door"

"If that is true, than I wouldn't dare open it"

"For I love living in eternal darkness, protected by these four walls and the closed door"

Wirt finished the poem. He glanced over to his closed bedroom door, wondering what might actually lie behind it. He shook it off. He glanced over to his open closet door and found his Halloween costume hanging on a hook. He glanced over to his red gnome hat on his desk next to the closet.

Wirt turned away from the costume and decided to continue writing in his new poetry journal. For some reason, he had decided to keep the lights off. He just figured it was better in some way. He could see what he was writing in the dark, which kind of surprised him, but not too much. The older boy continued to write in is journal until he could write no more.

* * *

><p>Little Gregory was in his room, trying to perfect his drawing of Auntie Whispers, when he heard a knock at his window. He pulled back his curtains and saw Jason holding a book like thing in his mouth. "Whatcha' have there, Frog O' Mine?" Greg asked. He opened the window and Jason hopped right in to the room. "What is this?" the little boy asked as he removed the poetry journal form the frog's mouth.<p>

"Wait a second, is this Wirt's poetry journal?" Jason croaked in what sounded like a yes answer. "Jason Funderburker, if you steal Wirt's poetry journal, than he'll figure out we've been reading his poems." Jason knew all too well what stealing the journal would lead to, but he panicked and just thought on his feet in a split second. The plan was ruined and Jason knew it was his fault.

Wirt was going to keep his door and window locked from now on, so nobody could get in or out. This was bad. They had to stop the curse at all cost, but they didn't have a plan anymore. Oh well, they were just going to have to come up with a new one. They couldn't just waste their time though, because it seemed with each passing day, Wirt was falling deeper and deeper into the curse's clutches.

Greg looked up at the picture that reminded them of their goal so he wouldn't forget it. "What are we gonna do now?" Greg asked "We need another plan." Jason croaked in what sounded like agreement.

"Yeah! Now what's the plan, Captain Funderburker?" Jason croaked. Greg thought to himself. "Hmmm, I guess we could talk to Beatrice, but I don't even know how to get back to the Unknown." Jason croaked a suggestive croak. "Hmm, maybe if I remember how I got there the first time, then maybe I can get there again." Jason croaked. "Yeah! Let's go back to the Unknown!" Greg cheered.

Greg spent some time trying to figure out how to get back to the unknown without going back over the garden wall. Greg didn't know however, what the Unknown truly was. Some sort of place between life and death. Jason knew what kind of place the Unknown was, but decided to keep it to himself. Greg wanted to save Wirt, but he knew the only way he could do that was to talk to Beatrice. But the only way he could do that was visit her in her home.

In the Unknown.


	10. Chapter 10: Deeper

Chapter 10: Deeper

Wirt glanced at his costume again. He had the strange urge to put it on for some reason. He couldn't explain it, he just wanted to wear it. It was really weird. He turned away from the costume and started writing more poetry in his journal.

For some strange reason, the costume kept pushing itself to the front of Wirt's mind, just taunting him from afar. The older boy shuttered at the thought that the costume might be possessed or something, and it was just begging him to put it on.

Wirt turned back to his poetry journal and began to write another poem entitled 'Halloween Hauntings'.

"It just sits there and taunts me from afar"

"The costume I wore that Halloween"

"The night I almost drowned and died"

"I don't know why this Is happening, it makes me look like a gnome"

"A fictional creature from storybooks"

"Even more fictional than the place I've been that night"

"It seemed like a dream, but it was real"

"I guess my costume just help me fit in with that"

Wirt knew poems didn't have to rhyme, so he didn't bother to try and get it to rhyme. He had gotten used to the cold that had engulfed his room. The teenager decided to stare at the ceiling for a while and lose himself in his own darkening thoughts.

* * *

><p>Gregory was in his room a little ways down the hall from Wirt. The little boy was struggling with ideas on how to enter the Unknown and save his brother.<p>

"Oh Jason Funderburker" the young boy asked "What are we gonna do?" Greg stood up from his desk and hopped onto his bed. "I feel like we're running out of time, Wirt's gonna run out of time soon, and then he's, he's, he's gonna…."

Greg never finished saying what he was going to say. The little boy was quietly sobbing into his pillows, and he was sobbing pretty hard. Jason knew what to do in a situation like this, so he hopped over to the sobbing boy's bed and started to comfort him, but nuzzling him like a cat would, the way only a family pet can. Greg looked up from his pillow and saw the frog. Greg smiled at the display.

"Thanks Jason." The young boy said. Jason croaked in what sounded like sympathy. Greg pulled the frog in to a tight hug. The frog croaked a happy croak and smiled. Greg opened his eyes. "I just don't want Wirt to become the Beast and be scary and turn people into trees and steal their souls and, and…."

Greg broke out into tears again as he sobbed into his already wet pillow. Jason sighed. Sighing is something that humans do, so he often tried to avoid doing it in front of people, but with Greg's crying, he could get away with it this one time.

The frog continued to comfort Greg and maybe he could even help him get into the Unknown. Jason didn't exactly know how to get to the Unknown. He was a talking frog, not a magical frog, but he knew he had to do whatever he could to help free Wirt from the curse's clutches.

* * *

><p>Wirt was falling deeper and deeper in to the curse with every passing day, and he was only semi aware of it. He knew about the curse, but he didn't acknowledge the fact that it was taking over. The older boy continued to stare at the ceiling. He claimed it gave him inspiration to write poems these days. He would just stare at the ceiling for minutes or even hours at a time before inspiration for a poem came to him.<p>

By now, he was perfectly comfortable in his cold, dark room, just staring at the ceiling and writing poetry from sunup to sundown. He would often go to bed earlier than usual lately and would wake up at his normal time. Since the frog stole his previous poetry journal, he had to use a new one. His previous journal was overflowing to the brim with poetry anyway, so he would have had to have gotten a new one pretty soon.

His poems were getting darker than usual lately. His poems hadn't been nearly this dark ever since he and Greg returned from the Unknown. He glanced back over at his Halloween gnome costume. He wanted to wear it, but he didn't know why. Wirt turned and looked back up at the ceiling, just waiting for inspiration to come to him. He was falling deeper and deeper within the curse and he didn't seem to care very much.

He opened his poetry journal and started to read some of his previous poems. He turned to the page, which contained the poem, Staying Away. He had to rewrite some of his poems in the new journal after Jason ran off with the old one. As he read the poem, he thought about Gregory and how his young brother must be feeling right about now. "Greg" He whispered to himself.

The teenager got out of bed and made his way over to the bedroom door. When he was about to open it, he remembered a line from one of his other poems, Behind the Closed Door.

_'They keep saying that sunshine listens behind the closed door; If that's true, I wouldn't dare open it; For I love living in eternal darkness, protected by these four walls and the closed door.'_

Wirt stopped and decided against opening the door. He headed back to his bed and continued to stare at the ceiling with a blank expression. Even with the Beast gone, it still felt to Wirt like he couldn't do much of what he wanted, but he really didn't seem to care about that either. Wirt sighed as he looked back at his journal.

He closed it and continued to stare at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. He did love Greg, but he just didn't feel like he wanted to be around him lately. He didn't really see his parents much anymore. They just thought that with being a teenager, he wanted some alone time, so they just left him alone for the time being.

And as always, he just had to glance back at his costume. His sudden obsession with the costume was really weird. He just decided to shrug it off for now, until the time came that the thought of the costume would haunt him again. Wirt noticed the change in light, and got up to open the curtains. Just as he suspected, it was already sunset.

It was still pretty early, but the moon would be out soon, so he decided to go to sleep. The teenager got underneath his covers and started to nod off. He hadn't been having any dreams lately for some strange reason, but it didn't really bother him too much. Wirt started to feel his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, until suddenly, he was asleep in his dreamless little world.


	11. Chapter 11: Love?

Chapter 11: Love?

_'And even though this monster is forcing us to stay apart; just know that I love you with all my heart'_

Wirt was really starting to question the words from that poem.

Did he love Greg?

Of course he loved Greg. Wait, did he? He didn't really know anymore. Wirt sighed. He closed his poetry journal and continued to stare up at the ceiling. Did he even know what love was? He thought he did, but he's not so sure anymore.

He thought that the curse might be getting to him, but he really didn't acknowledge it. The older boy continued to stare at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. What was love? How could he answer that question when he was slowly losing it? He didn't really know, nor did he really care anymore.

He hadn't completely forgotten what love is. He still holds love for his poems and clarinet in the highest esteem. He opened his journal back up and started reading a poem that he had written after coming back from the Unknown. The poem was titled 'Never Again'.

"I was a gnome who entered this strange place with my brother, the elephant"

"We walked, trying to get to our home"

"I thought the elephant was the one dragging me down"

"Oh how wrong I was"

"I, the gnome, was the one dragging my brother, the elephant, down"

"I just neglected him and let him do whatever he wanted."

"I am the eldest child, so it is my burden to bear"

"I should have listened when I was told that"

"My brother, the elephant, almost died"

"And it was all my fault"

"Never again, will I be the selfish older brother"

"I promise that from now on, I will always love and protect the elephant, even if it kills me"

"For I, the gnome, will always love my brother, the elephant."

Wirt remembered when he wrote that poem. It made so much sense back then, but now he couldn't explain the reasoning for it. The older boy continued to look through the journal and read some of his past poems about him loving someone. He turned to another poem. It was a love poem for Sara. The poem was entitled 'The One Who Will Soon Get Away.'

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I really like her, but I'm afraid to tell her"

"I'm afraid she'll reject me"

"I'm afraid she'll leave me for _him_"

"I can't compete with _him_"

"She'll just leave, and I'll be lonely forever"

"What am I supposed to do?"

The poem was short and came to an end quickly. Why did he have a crush on Sara again? He couldn't remember. Wirt thought of Greg and what he must be doing right now. He hadn't been spending much time with him due to the curse, but he thought as long as his little brother was safe, he didn't have to intervene in his life.

After all, no one really cared about what Wirt thought when his mom got a new boyfriend. No one really cared about what Wirt thought when his mom got married to her boyfriend, giving him a new father. And of course, no one really cared about what Wirt thought when his mom gave birth to a new baby brother that he never even asked for.

So when he thought about it, one of the reasons his life didn't turn out the way he wanted was because of Greg. All those responsibilities that came with being a big brother, he never wanted. He wondered what he did to deserve something like that. But that was back when he was more selfish, and now he's much kinder to Greg. If he had a time machine, he would go back and do things over.

Well, that's what he would have thought if the curse wasn't slowly taking over. He was thinking back to his selfish past and thinking selfish thoughts about having a half-brother. He never wanted Greg to be born, so why was he? Why did no one ever listen to him? Greg was just a nuisance and he had been from the start.

His love for his brother was starting to diminish, just like The Beast said it would, but he didn't care about The Beast, he just wanted his old life back. Before his dad left, before his mom remarried, and before Greg had ever been born. The older boy grew bitter as he thought about his nuisance of a little half-brother. He could just feel the rage welling up from deep inside himself. It was official now.

He hated Greg.

He hated Greg more than he ever did in his entire life. Wirt had never actually hated Greg before. When the little boy was first born, Wirt never actually hated him. He loved Greg, but he would hardly ever show it around his parents. The only time he would ever show the young boy any affection was when they were alone. He would often comfort him after he had nightmares or help him when he ran into a problem he couldn't figure it out, not because he had to, but because he wanted to out of love.

But that was then, and now, Wirt's hatred for Greg grew and grew as the seconds passed. He hated his little brother, and now that he thought about it, Greg wasn't entirely responsible for his less than perfect life. His hatred for his parents started to grow as well as his hatred for all the people at school who teased him and mocked him as he was growing up.

His hatred for the world began to grow and blossom from the rage within him. It was official, he hated everyone and everything now.

Love?

There was no such thing in his world. Any love that remained inside of him grew sick and died. The curse was taking over, but he didn't care. If anything, he thought the curse was helping improve his life. He mentally thanked The Beast, while a little shred of politeness still remained inside of him. Actually, not all the love inside him disappeared. He still loved his poems, that one thing was absolutely certain, but that was all he loved. He didn't even feel the same way about his clarinet.

* * *

><p>Greg was eating dinner in the kitchen. His mom agreed to make and try some potatoes and molasses, but Greg was too sad to even take a bite of his own creation, which became famous in the Unknown almost overnight.<p>

"Greg honey, what's wrong?" his mother asked. She took a bite of her food. "Wow, this is really good." Greg mustered out an "I told you so" in a quiet voice.

"What's wrong Greg, and where's Wirt?" the young boy shrugged. "He's not coming." "Why not?" Greg shrugged a second time. "He's not up to it." "Oh, well I hope he feels better soon." "Yeah, me too." Greg said, walking up to his room. He stopped when he was in front of Wirt's room, but he decided not to bother him, so he just kept on walking, until he reached the door to his own room.

He opened the door and saw that Jason was just as sad as he was. Greg, without saying a word, pulled the frog into a tight embrace. "I know it hurts, but we're just going to have to do whatever we can." A tear ran down Greg's face as well as Jason's. They had to figure something out within the little time they had, and fast. Who knows what might happen if the curse takes over and their time runs out.


	12. Chapter 12: Friend

Chapter 12: Friend

Sara stood outside on her way to walking home from school, one chilly afternoon. She held her phone up to her ear. When it was said that the call didn't reach the person she didn't get ahold of, she groaned in frustration.

"Come on, pick up already." The phone beeped, signaling that the person she was trying to get ahold of couldn't be reached. Sara groaned in frustration as she put her phone up in her pocket. She decided to start walking to her house, when she saw a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye. The figure was none other than Wirt's little brother Gregory.

The little boy continued to walk, staring at the ground with a sad look on face. He has had a lot on his plate, lately. When Greg got close enough, Sara waved to him. "Hey Greg." She said, waving to him. The little boy looked up from the ground and up from his thoughts to acknowledge the girl standing in front of him. "Oh, hey Sara." Greg said with sadness in his voice.

Sara frowned. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "Oh, something's just going on, it's complicated." "Oh, well I noticed you were walking home by yourself, and I was wondering if maybe you'd like me to walk you to your house." Greg looked up at his brother's crush and smiled. "Yeah, I guess that's okay." Sara smiled, and the two started walking in the direction of Greg's house.

Sara decided to start up a conversation to pass the time. "So, I've been trying to get ahold of Wirt to see if he wanted to do anything after school, but he won't answer, do you know why that is?" Greg frowned and stared back down at the ground. A tear fell from his eye as he thought about what was happening and what was soon going to happen. Sara noticed this and frowned.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything." Greg looked up and smiled at the girl. "You're nice, no wonder Wirt has a crush on you." Sara blushed, and Greg giggled. The rest of the walk to Greg's house was silent. Greg was still sad, and still thinking about how he was going to defeat the curse. He didn't know how to do it, and he wasn't sure if he was even capable of doing it. He didn't want to lose his brother though, that much he knew.

The two stopped when they arrived at Greg's house. Wirt usually picked him up, but due to his moods and the curse, Greg had started to walk home by himself. He waved goodbye to Sara as she started making her way to her own house. Greg left the chilly air of the outdoors for the warm welcoming pleasure of the inside of the house. 

* * *

><p>Wirt couldn't hide his look of annoyance as his phone rang for about the hundredth time that day. It was Sara who was calling. Why did she care about him? Nobody cared about Wirt. He was destined for a life alone without anybody to drag him down.<p>

The older boy growled at the phone that kept bugging him for the past few hours. He was wondering why he hadn't thrown the thing out the window by now. He then figured that the only way to get the thing to shut up, was to just answer it. He growled, and pressed the button.

"What?!" he snapped at Sara. On the other end, Sara was taken aback by Wirt's sudden outburst. "Um, I was just wondering if you and I could do something later." Wirt was disgusted by the sudden proposal. He wanted to be alone, and he was going to do everything to make sure that everyone who asked got the message.

"No, why would I want to do anything with someone like you?!" Wirt said this in the rudest tone that he could muster. "What's wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?" "Because I am sick and tired of dealing with people like you! Just get off of the phone, and don't call back!" Wirt hung up the phone and threw it out the window, where it shattered into pieces when it crashed up against a tree in the backyard.

Wirt had been receiving a lot of calls from his friends lately, or at least the people who claimed they were his friends. He had been receiving a lot of calls from Sara, and even some from Jason-the human-Funderberker asking if he was okay. Wirt didn't want any of it. He just wanted to be left alone. He had no friends, despite what everyone kept saying. He enjoyed being lonely, and thought that, for the rest of his life, he could just be the lone wolf, purposely stranded from his pack.

* * *

><p>Greg didn't know what to do. Winter Break was almost upon them, and he still had no idea on how he was going to save Wirt. He had to get back to the Unknown, he just didn't know how. Jason hardly had any idea as well. All Wirt had been doing lately, was locking himself up in his room, and ignoring everyone who tried to get him to come out.<p>

Greg still had no idea how hateful his brother had become to everything and everybody. He wanted to save his brother, but what was he supposed to do, if his older brother wouldn't even open the door to him when he knocked? Greg had been in tears a lot lately as he thought about Wirt, and how the curse was affecting him. |

Whenever his parents tried to get him out of his room, they were always unsuccessful. Every day, Greg cried for his brother, and cried because he couldn't find a way to save him. He was losing his brother, his role model, and his hero all at the same time. Greg couldn't even bring himself to work on his hero assignment, because it reminded him too much of the hero he once had that wasn't there anymore.

It was hard for Greg to think that there would never be anyone to comfort him after he had nightmares, or no one to help him when he ran in to trouble, or no one who he wanted to be like someday who would try and lead him down the right path to be the very best he could be. It hurt Greg to think that he could never again have that.

He could not let that happen.

But it was happening. It was happening, but he couldn't just accept the fact that he would never have a brother again, or he would never have a hero again. If something ever happened to Wirt, then Greg knew that he would still be his only hero.


	13. Chapter 13: Time

Chapter 13: Time

Time was running out. The curse was consuming Wirt even more day by day and there seemed to be nothing anyone could do about it. His hate continued to grow until it could grow no more. There was only so much hate that a person could have. Greg didn't know if he could ever free his older brother from the dreaded curse, or if he'd ever be able to have his brother back.

Jason was also incredibly worried about Wirt. Even though when they first met, Wirt never really cared about the frog, or about what name Greg was going to give him, but as they progressed through their journey in the Unknown, Jason really started to grow on Wirt and vice versa. And now, Wirt loved the frog, and even accepted him as part of his family.

Jason couldn't stand the fact that Wirt was falling deeper and deeper into the curse's hands, so he decided he was going to do something about it. He had a way to help Greg destroy the curse, but he promised himself that he wouldn't do it, unless things got really bad, and now pretty much qualified as really bad. Jason knew that there was sort of a secret weapon he could use, but he had to sneak all the way in to the basement to get it.

Greg was drawing to try and get his mind off of things, so Jason saw this as his chance. The frog jumped off of the chair he was sitting on, and silently made his way over to the bedroom door. Jason tried to open it a silently as he could, in order to not make Greg curious.

"Where are you going, Jason Funderburker?"

Well, that failed. Jason turned to the young boy and gave a croak. "Alright, just stay out of trouble." Jason turned back to the door and silently hopped out in to the hallway. The frog knew that he had to be secretive about his intentions, because no one could know what he was up to, or what he was after.

Jason hopped down the long hallway, past Wirt's room, and finally down the stairs that led into the living room. He had to steer clear of the adults of the house, because they could figure out that something wasn't right. Jason silently hopped right past them in the living room, where they were watching some Christmas horror movie on T.V.

Jason hopped on into another hallway. When he reached the end, he came to a door, looming over him. The frog hopped and continued to hop, until finally he was able to reach the doorknob. The door swung open, and Jason hopped down into the dark abyss of past items. He knew that the thing he was looking for would be down there.

He continued on with his journey, stumbling through the darkness of the basement. He tripped over something that kind of rolled toward him, and it was later revealed that the thing was a flashlight. The frog pointed the flashlight around the room, in hopes of finding the one thing he was looking for.

The light shone on what looked like a miniature brief case with fancy writing written on the front. Jason instantly knew that he had found what he was looking for. The frog hopped over to the tiny case, and picked it up with ease. Jason tripped over some objects, and finally made his way back up the stairs. He hopped up to the door knob, and was able to close the door gently, without arousing suspicion.

The frog, quickly but quietly, hopped to the other end of the hall. Jason entered the living room, hoping not to catch the adult's attention. He quietly hopped, pulling the case behind him. He hopped up the stairs, making sure not to lose the case in the process.

He had finally made it upstairs, where he hopped past Wirt's room and continued, until he came face to face with a closet door. He opened it, and entered. Jason would sometimes lock himself up in the closet when he didn't want to be disturbed, or he was doing something in secret. Now was one of those times.

Jason needed what was inside the case to help Wirt get free from the curse. Jason had plans for whatever was inside, and tonight, he was going to follow it through. Jason flipped the latch, and opened the case.

* * *

><p>Later that night, all was quiet as everyone slept. Christmas was almost upon everyone as the end of the month drew closer and closer. Greg was asleep and dreaming in his bed, when all of a sudden, he heard a noise. The noise sounded faintly like an instrument playing, even more specifically, a clarinet.<p>

"Wirt?" the boy asked, rubbing his eyes. Greg realized that the player couldn't have possibly been his older brother, because Wirt had a different style of playing. This sounded more like a snake charmer type style. Greg was finally able to open his eyes fully, and when he did, he saw the strangest thing.

His window was open to the full moon, and in front of the moon scenery was the shadow of Jason Funderburker playing one of Wirt's old clarinets. Greg thought that this was all a dream so he pinched himself, but when he did, he found that it hurt, and that this wasn't a dream. "Jason Funderburker?" Greg asked "You really can play the clarinet! Wow, Wirt was right about you!"

Jason took the clarinet away from his mouth and revealed one of his biggest secrets.

"Gregory, were running out of time, the curse is going to take over Wirt if we don't defeat it soon."

Greg stared up at the frog withy wide, surprised eyes. "Wow! You can talk too!? I thought you could only talk and sing in the Unknown!" Jason sighed. He knew Greg would make a big deal about it, if he found out he could talk and sing, but that was understandable. Jason knew he was going to have to reveal his secret sooner or later.

"Listen, Gregory my boy, I can help you save your brother." Greg frowned. "But how? I think he's already fallen too deep in to the curse to ever get out." Jason glanced at the moon outside, and then turned back to Greg. "He may have already fallen too deep, but I think that if he sees you, then something might happen, and he'll slowly be saved. I don't know if it would work, but it's worth a shot."

Greg had to process what his frog had said. If Wirt just saw his face, then he would be free of the curse? Greg didn't think it would be that easy. "So, you think I can break Wirt out of the curse?" Jason nodded. "If he's too far gone and just seeing you isn't enough, than we might have to resort to more extreme measures."

Greg looked down at his bed with a tear falling from his eye.

"Something tells me that he might already be too far gone."

Jason sighed as he glanced back at the moon. "Just try and go back to sleep Gregory, and one more thing, don't tell people I can talk, let's just keep it between us." Greg smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Sure thing, Frog O' Mine." Greg fell back asleep, as Jason continued to look at the sight of the beautiful full moon.


	14. Chapter 14: Insanity

Chapter 14: Insanity

Wirt was struggling to wake up for some reason. He was having trouble opening his eyes and adjusting to his surroundings. When he was finally able to open his eyes, he found that he was not in his bed, but instead, he was in some sort of cold dark void.

"What the…?"

Wirt was confused as to what was going on. He felt something on his head, so he pulled it off and looked at it with a strange look. "What?" he asked obviously confused. He was wearing his gnome hat from his Halloween costume. He saw the cape and realized that he was wearing his entire Halloween costume. "What's going on?" he asked, a little louder than he intended.

That was when he heard the all too familiar voice, haunting him once again.

"Welcome back, Wirt." The Beast said. Wirt snarled. "What did you do!? Where am I!?" "You are deep within your mind, hidden away from everything else, while my curse has taken over your vessel." Wirt put a hand on his head, confused. "Something feels…wrong." He looked back up at The Beast.

"Your vessel is currently in the physical world, hating everyone and everything. It is barely conscious, with only the hate fueling it and keeping it going." Wirt had to take in what The Beast had just said. "If I don't have possession of my vessel, then what am I?" "You are a spirit that represents who you once were, but as soon as the curse completely takes over, who you once were will no longer exist."

Wirt couldn't take it anymore, so he stood up and started running. He had to break out of this endless prison of his mind, so he could regain control of his vessel and end the curse. The Beast just laughed.

"You fail to understand, Wirt, the curse is designed to take your own feelings and enhance the hate from within. You've always been a pessimistic, selfish, ungrateful boy always wondering why you got what you didn't want and always thinking others got in the way of your own needs. This curse brings out the inner hate that you never really felt, but could have, and that is why I've chosen you to be my successor. That, and another reason."

Wirt had to let what The Beast just said, sink in. Sure he was always like that, and sure he sometimes wondered why his life turned out the way it did, but as soon as he returned from The Unknown, all of it began to change, as he had learned not to judge a book by its cover and to be grateful for what he has, because he may not always have it.

Wirt looked up from his thoughts and back at The Beast. "That shouldn't matter anymore, things are different now. I'm grateful for what and who I have, and I give people more of a chance. I've grown to love my step-father and my entire family, and even the world more than I already did."

The Beast moved along the shadows. "Everybody is capable of feeling hate, but you are special. This sanctuary inside your own mind will keep you safe for now, but when the curse completely takes over, than this mind barrier will be broken, and the hate will consume you, and you will die, leaving this vessel free of who you once were."

Wirt was shocked. The curse was obviously really getting to him. "What happens if I escape?" he asked with clenched teeth. "If you were to escape the mind barrier, then you could regain control of your vessel, but you can never break out, and that's the only reason I'm telling you this."

Wirt turned and started walking away. The Beast didn't follow him, probably just so he could think about things. All he could see was the blackness of the barrier around him. The older boy remembered a song that he had just recently learned the lyrics to. The song was a bit dark, but he loved it anyway for some reason. It wasn't a song that Greg would listen to, but he figured it was a good song for something like this. Remembering the lyrics, he began to sing.

"Everything is said and done, Everyone has had their fun"

"Time to make my exit from this fairytale"

"My departure was foreseen, from the very beginning"

"Assumed life of insanity, Sayonara"

"Hello, nice to meet, you seem familiar, have I met, you before?"

"Goodbye sweetie, nice to see you haven't talked, in quite a while"

"Insanity, the weight of the air is torture"

"Psychopathy, don't know who I am anymore"

"Insanity, the illusion of ignorance"

"Captivity, why don't you take a chance?"

Wirt looked up at the sky of the mind void as he sang the next part of the chorus.

"Insanity, the weight of the air is torture"

"Psychopathy, don't know who I am anymore"

"Insanity, the illusion of ignorance"

"Captivity, try to stop it from corrupting"

Wirt kept on walking as he thought more about the song, and how he was falling into insanity. It was a pretty dark song, and was perfect to describe a situation like this. Wirt continued to sing.

"I was never meant to be, this paintings main center piece"

"Hidden in the corner, my outlines are fading"

"The days have turned into night, darkness has consumed the light"

"Assumed life of insanity, Sayonara"

"Hello, nice to meet, you seem familiar, have I met you before?"

"Goodbye sweetie, nice to see you, haven't talked, in quite a while"

Wirt kept on walking and singing.

"Insanity, the weight of the air is torture"

"Psychopathy, don't know who I am anymore"

"Insanity, the illusion of ignorance"

"Captivity, why don't you take a chance?"

Wirt sang the second part of the chorus, but with a little more this time.

"Insanity, the weight of the air is torture"

"Psychopathy, don't know who I am anymore"

"Insanity, the illusion of ignorance"

"Captivity, try to stop it from corrupting"

"My heart, why won't anyone"

"Notice the torment, this madness is causing"

"Terror of, my own self-conscious"

"Minds persecution, I won't survive like this"

Wirt stopped walking and took a deep breath. He thought of Greg as he sang the next part.

"Sanity, light is peaking through the darkness"

"Purity, can't feel any more of the stress"

"Sanity, It's already fading away"

"Cruelty, instincts controlling me"

The serene part of the song finished quickly, as Wirt continued to finish off the song.

"Insanity, the weight of the air is torture"

"Psychopathy, don't know who I am anymore"

"Insanity, the illusion of ignorance"

"Captivity, why don't you take a chance?"

"Insanity, the weight of the air is torture"

"Psychopathy, don't know who I am anymore"

"Insanity, the illusion of ignorance"

"Captivity, the corruption has taken me"

The song started to leave Wirt as it came to an end, leaving the barrier silent once again. Wirt sighed. He continued to walk through the void, pondering his thoughts about things and what he would do if he ever got out.


	15. Chapter 15: Darkness

Chapter 15: Darkness

Greg didn't pay much attention during class these days. He spent from sunup to sundown always worrying about the curse. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. Chances were that he wouldn't be turning in his assignment on time, since he had pretty much given up on finishing it.

Greg was never one to give up on things, but he felt like there was just nothing he could do these days. He was slowly slipping in to depression as he kept thinking about how his older brother kept falling in to the darkening curse. The thought of losing his brother was just terrible for him, and he didn't know what to do about it. He decided he was going to walk home with Sara, since Wirt never even bothered to pick him up anymore.

The little boy opened the door to the school building, and walked directly out in to the cold air that had just been getting colder day by day. He had almost been ran over by many of his classmates as they rushed outside for the end of school, but he didn't really care very much.

Greg started walking while staring at the ground, not even caring about when or if he was going to run into anything, or what he was going to run in to. While he was doing this, he had seen a rock, a snail, some bugs, more bugs, rocks, rocks, and even more rocks. He didn't really care about it though, he just wanted his brother back, and that was a rock fact.

Greg kept sulking and staring down at the ground with his hands in his coat pockets. He didn't notice however, when he almost ran in to someone familiar. Literally. He felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to stop where he was at. He looked up from the ground and his thoughts, to see his brother's crush standing there with a smile on her face. Greg smiled in return.

The little boy grabbed Sara's hand, and the two started walking toward Greg's house. As the walk went on, Greg continued to sulk and stare at the ground. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by Sara.

"What's wrong Greg? You've been doing that for a while now." Greg looked up at Sara with a sad look on his face. "Sara, what happens when people always stay locked up in their rooms? When they just don't come out to see anyone anymore?" A tear fell out of Greg's eye as he said the last part. "Or when they don't come out to tell you they love you anymore?"

Sara was silent. It was silent for a little while, until Sara spoke. "I-I don't know. I guess it could mean a bunch of different things for different people, but who knows?" Sara knew Greg was talking about Wirt, and that it was the reason he was always upset these days. She knew that Wirt was acting strange for some reason, but she didn't know why. He had snapped at her, which already led her to believe something was wrong. The two continued to walk silently, until they reached Greg's house.

"By Greg, see you later." Sara waved as she walked away. "By Sara." Greg said and waved back. The girl left, and Greg was just a few feet away from the front door. When he opened the door, instead of being greeted by warm aromas and pleasantness as he was used to, he was greeted by loud yelling.

He peaked in to the kitchen to see what all the yelling was about, and he found his parents having an argument. He decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"He's rude! He's hateful! He hasn't come out of his room in days! He's acting like a rotten teenager, and I will not stand for it!" Greg's father yelled. "I know honey, but maybe it's just a phase of some sort." His mother said. "That does not give him the right to act that way!" The two parents kept arguing for some time, until they finally noticed their youngest son standing there, having been watching them the entire time.

"What's wrong? Is it about Wirt?" Greg finally asked. His mother sighed and put a hand on her forehead, then finally spoke. "Just go up to your room, Gregory." That was strange. His parents usually never called him Gregory unless he got in trouble or something like that. "Did I do something wrong?" His father spoke. "No Greg, you're not in trouble, just go to your room."

Greg, obeying his parents, walked up the stairs and in to the hallway, when he stopped in front of Wirt's door. He remembered what Jason had said, and he thought now would be a good time to execute it. Greg took a deep breath, and was summoning all his courage to knock on his brother's bedroom door. He extended his hand and knocked on the door.

As he took a step back, the door swung open to reveal Wirt, but what was strange, is that Wirt was wearing his Halloween costume.

"What do you want!?" Wirt snapped. Greg was taken aback by his sudden attitude. "I uh, I just came to make sure you were okay."

"No, why would I be, you're here." Wirt said that in the most hurtful tone he could muster. "Uh, I was just worried about you." Wirt turned and started walking to the other side of his room. "Don't be, and don't bother coming back." Greg had only one thing he could say. "But, I thought you said you loved me."

Wirt stopped, his back still facing his brother. Minutes went by, and all was silent. The room gave off a cold feeling. Greg could start to hear his brother quietly muttering to himself under his breath, until they got louder.

"Love you? Love you? Love you?! LOVE YOU!? I HATE YOU! I'VE HATED YOU SINCE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN A NUISANCE AND YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN MAKING NY LIFE MISERABLE, ALWAYS ACTING SO HAPPY AND CHEERFUL ALL THE TIME, WHILE YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN TORTURING ME! I NEVER ASKED FOR YOU TO BE BORN, AND I NEVER ASKED FOR A BROTHER! I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN SO MY LIFE WOULDN'T BE MISERABLE AND I WOULD'VE NEVER HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH A NUISANCE LIKE YOU!"

Wirt slammed the door with such force that it made Greg fall back up against the wall. Greg had to let what his brother said sink in. He felt a tear slide down from his eye, as he realized the gravity of Wirt's hate.

No longer eager to stay, Greg got up and ran to his own room. He hopped on his bed and started crying into his pillow. He never thought that his brother truly hated him, but just that he got annoyed with him sometimes. Greg continued to cry, but this time, he didn't have anyone special who would make it better.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Greg was fast asleep, tired from crying. His heart started to slow again like it did that one time. His heart continued to slow and slow until the point of near death.<p>

It was almost as if Wirt actually broke his heart.


	16. Chapter 16: Unknown

Chapter 16: Unknown

Greg was having trouble opening his eyes the morning after Wirt had yelled at him. The sun seemed to be coming through his windows, but as he continued to wake up more and more, he started to realize that they weren't his windows.

"Huh? What?" The little boy asked, his eyes still trying to adjust. As he woke up some more, he realized that he wasn't in his room like he knew he fell asleep in the night before. All of a sudden, the door to the room opened to reveal the same triple bun haired teenage girl who warned Greg about the curse.

"Oh, you're awake, I didn't think you'd be up right now."Greg's eyes grew wide as he saw the girl.

"Beatrice!" the young boy yelled. He instantly kicked the bed covers off of him and hopped out of the bed to meet his friend. "Beatrice, I'm so happy to see you." The girl smiled. "I'm happy to see you too, Greg." The two pulled each other into a hug. When the hug ended, Beatrice spoke. "Listen Greg, I brought you here because I really need to talk to you."

Greg saluted. "Right O', Ma'am." Beatrice gave a little smile at this, and the two set off down the long staircase, and in to Beatrice's family's living room. When the two stepped into the room, Beatrice gestured for Greg to sit down in the chair across from her as they did last time. It was silent for a while as Beatrice was still deciding on what to say, then she spoke. "Um, Greg, I need to talk to you…about Wirt."

Greg's smile slowly left his face as he recalled the events of the previous night. A tear slid down the young boys face as he thought about his curse possessed brother. Greg closed his eyes and let a few tears slide down his face, and then he broke out into an all-out sob.

Beatrice knew that something must have happened between the two brothers to make him this upset, but she decided to walk over to him and comfort him. "It'll be okay, Greg." She said to him. The little boy just continued to sob and sob as he recalled the terrible memory with his once-brother. "He-he said I was a-a nuisance, and he- he said I-I only made h-his life m-m-miserable."

Beatrice was surprised that Wirt would even consider saying things like that. Sure, sometimes Greg got on his nerves, but Wirt would never say things like that. "Oh Greg, I know he didn't mean it, it was just the curse that made him say that." Greg looked up at the girl with tears still in his eyes. "I know but, but, he said he- he" Greg tried to choke back his tears as he said the last part.

"…hated me."

Beatrice's eyes were wider than ever. She never even thought that an all-consuming curse could, for even a second, get Wirt to hate his brother, but of course she shouldn't be surprised, after all, The Beast did have a powerful influence on others. The girl sighed and continued to comfort Greg. When the embrace ended and Greg started to calm down the crying, Beatrice saw this as her chance to tell him the reason for him being there.

"Greg, we really need to talk about the curse, if we want to save Wirt, it's very important that you pay very close attention." Greg nodded and gave the girl a small smile as he wiped away another one of his tears. "Okay then." Beatrice stood from where she was at and walked past her chair and stood with her back facing the young boy. She was silent for a moment, thinking as Greg waited for her to tell him the important news. Beatrice turned to face the boy and gave him a small smile.

"I think you're finally ready to hear the story of how The Beast became The Beast."

* * *

><p>Wirt kept silently walking in the dark void looking protective barrier of his mind. He was just walking with no goal, except to get out of the dark place. He sighed as he looked up at the blank sky. When he looked back down at the ground, he saw the strangest thing. He saw…a shadow. It was sort of a little plump shadow that strangely looked a lot like…<p>

"Greg!"

Wirt yelled after it. He started running after it, but the shadow was fast, and easily evaded. Wirt started panting as he was out of breath. The Beast decided to show himself and watched as Wirt was out of breath for some strange reason.

"What were you doing?" the monster asked.

"What was _I_ doing?" the older boy retorted "What's with those weird shadows that look like my little brother?"

"What?"

"You know those shadows that look like Greg that I keep seeing everywhere."

"I don't know what you're talking about, there is nothing like that in here, just you and me."

"Well apparently there isn't."

The Beast really didn't know what the teenager was talking about, as there wasn't supposed to be anything like that in the mind barrier. Wirt rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'll just keep walking." As Wirt was about to walk away, The Beast thought for a second.

"No" The Beast said "Stay here and let's talk for a while." Wirt stopped walking and scoffed. "Fine, whatever." Wirt stood face to face with the dreaded beast. "Do you know what you told your parents?" The monster asked. Wirt was confused.

"What _I_ told my parents?" "Yes Wirt, _you _told them that they were just getting in the way of your perfect life and your happiness. You said to them that they never listened to you, and since they never listened to you, they shouldn't even bother with you at all."

Wirt was staring at the terrible monster with wide eyes. "I-I never said that." "Oh but you did, you were so hateful about it, that they truly decided not to bother with you until you came out of your room." Wirt didn't know what to say.

"Do you know what you said to Sara?" "What? No not Sara." "You told her that you were sick of putting up with her and people who called you your friends." Wirt was still speechless.

"And last but most certainly not the least, do you know what you said to your brother?" Wirt gasped. "Greg, no no no, please not Greg." Wirt stood with fear in his eyes. "You told him that he had always been a nuisance to your selfish needs and that he had always been making your like miserable from the second he was born. You even said that you hated him."

Wirt couldn't take it anymore. Tears started pouring out of his eyes. Had he really said all of that to Greg, his dear, dear brother? He didn't want to believe it. He looked back up at The Beast, wiping tears from his eyes. "You can leave now." He said in the harshest tone he could muster. The Beast continued to stay silent. "What are you still doing here, get out of here." The Beast looked up at Wirt than spoke.

"I think it's time for you to learn my origins ."


	17. Chapter 17: Beast

Chapter 17: Beast

The year was 1533 one Halloween day in a large town in England. The children were preparing for their rendezvous on the streets by coming up with many costumes to confuse the spirits when they walked the Earth that night.

Residing inside one of the houses in the neighborhood was none other than Christopher, a tall teenager with brown hair and a scarecrow nose, who was currently writing a poem for his beloved crush, Serena. The boy sighed. He hadn't actually told Serena that he had a crush on here out of the fear of rejection, but tonight, he was determined to give her the poem.

"Into the Unknown." He whispered to himself.

He folded the paper up and put it in an envelope marked 'For Serena.' The boy smiled as he stared at the envelope, but the smile faded as he thought of the possibility of him being rejected. He put the envelope in his pocket and walked out of his room, down the stairs and out the front door.

He started walking along the side walk, wondering how he was going to confess, and what he would do if things didn't go so well. Just then, he heard a bunch of talking. He looked up and saw that a bunch of his peers from his class were coming his way, and of course, in the group was the beautiful Serena. She was a beautiful English girl with beautiful blonde locks.

Cristopher panicked and hid by a nearby tree. He heard the voiced of his classmates, but they didn't seem to notice him. He started to hear the voices fading away, so he decided it was a good time to come out from behind the tree. He sighed in relief. Just then, he heard the sound of a whole new voice.

"What are you doing, Christopher?"

The tall boy was startled by the voice. He looked down at a short, plump little boy with a cooking pot on his head. "Timothy, don't sneak up on me like that." Christopher said with a British accent. "Oh sorry, I just saw you hiding from that girl you like." The little boy said in an equally British accent.

"What? I don't like her."

"Then why do you have a letter for her?"

The young boy pointed to the envelope peeking out from his brother's pocket. "Can I see it?" Christopher thought for a second. "I guess it would be alright, I mean, what harm could possibly come from it?" the older boy gave his younger brother the poem, and he immediately saw the harm that came from giving the boy the envelope.

Timothy started running down the street after the group of teenagers. Christopher panicked and started running after his little half-brother. Timothy was always known to be faster than his brother, which came in handy sometimes, like this one. The young boy kept running with the poem in hand, until in the distance, he saw not a bunch of people, but a single figure.

The boy saw the beautiful blonde, and immediately ran up to her with the letter in hand, but Christopher acted fast and caught up to Timothy as he was about to hand her the poem. The girl saw the boy and her smile brightened even wider.

"Oh, hello, Christopher." The older boy was still out of breath, but he was always tongue tied around her, so it didn't really make a difference. "Oh, h-hello, Serena." He said with a nervous smile on his face, but thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. "Is this your little brother?" she asked as she looked down at the boy "And what are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a woodpecker, see my beak?" He took the pot off of his head and started pecking the air. The girl gave a small laugh and turned back to Christopher. "We were going out to the old graveyard tonight when it got dark out, would you mind joining us?"

Christopher didn't know how to respond to the invitation. "Um, yes, yes, I'll, I'll be there." The girl smiled and turned to walk away. "See you there, Christopher, and see you later, Timothy." Before she left, Timothy slipped the poem into her pocket without Christopher noticing.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Christopher made his way up to the old graveyard hill with his little brother following him, unbeknownst to Christopher. The older boy was hiding behind a gravestone, far from the others. Serena was sitting and talking with everyone.<p>

"Where is Christopher?" the blonde girl asked "He said he would be here." Christopher was debating on whether or not to reveal himself, when he heard a voice.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?"

The older boy jumped as he heard the voice of his brother. "Timothy, what are you doing here!?"

"Hey, I have an idea, why don't I distract them by pretending to be a dead woodpecker?"

"What? No, that's a terrible idea." The tall teenager looked back at the group and saw Serena pull an envelope out of her pocket. "It…has my name on it." The girl said. Christopher panicked.

"Do it Timothy, go, do it quickly."

The little boy wandered over to the group. "OOOOOOOOOHHH, I'm a dead wooooodpecker." Timothy took his pot off and started to peck the air, still making ghost noises. "Isn't that Christopher's little brother?" Christopher stood up from behind the stone.

"Oh, uh, hey everyone." Christopher laughed nervously. As this was happening, a few of the townspeople noticed a bunch of figures in the graveyard in the distance. "It looks like a witches gathering." One said. "Let's go alert the constable." Said another.

Within a few minutes, the whole town was in on the witch hunt with their pitch forks and torches. Back then, which hunts were not to be taken lightly. "Oh no, they must think this is some kind of witches gathering." "Everyone, run, quickly!" Christopher panicked and started running toward the docks, with Timothy following him. Some of the townsfolk saw them and started chasing after them. The two brothers stopped at the edge of the dock.

"This is it, this is it for us, it, it can't end like this." As the townspeople approached, Christopher and Timothy did the only thing they could think of. They jumped into the water behind them and they sunk deeper and deeper until they couldn't be heard anymore.

* * *

><p>"Hello, is there anybody here!?" Timothy yelled as him and his brother walked through the forest known as the Unknown. "Wait a second." The eldest said as he looked around.<p>

"Timothy…where are we and how we get here?"

The little boy thought and shrugged. The two kept walking through the dark forest. This was a time in The Unknown before the Woodsman, before Beatrice, before Lorna, before Endicott, and before almost everyone. The two were wandering for days trying to find their way back home and to Christopher, it appeared that Timothy was being no help at all, always playing with his frog and singing all the time.

The little boy was singing about his frog, when finally, Christopher snapped. "Would you stop that!? Can't you just for once stop being so annoying all the time and just be quiet." Timothy's smile turned into a frown.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I hadn't realized I was bothering you."

"Of course you're bothering me, that's what I keep trying to tell you." Christopher put his forehead up against a tree and sighed. A tear ran down Timothy's cheek.

"Well then…I guess I won't be bothering you anymore."

The older boy heard the pitter patter of little feet running. When he looked back, his brother was nowhere to be found. "Timothy!" the older boy started running through the forest after his brother.

"TIMOTHY!"

He searched and searched for hours, but he could not find his dear little brother. Christopher started crying quietly up against a tree, just hoping that he'd be able to see his brother again.


	18. Chapter 18: Adelaide

Chapter 18: Adelaide

Christopher kept walking through the Unknown, still searching for his little half-brother. He had been searching for a long time, but he still had no idea where he could possibly be. He had been asking people if they had seen him, but in the end, he came up empty.

The older boy was walking through the forest when he heard a growling noise. Realizing he was hungry, he decided to go looking for a nearby tavern for some food. He hadn't had anything in a couple days, so he needed to find something to eat. As he kept walking, a pleasant aroma caught his attention. He kept walking and following the delicious scent, until he came upon a house.

It looked like a nice little cabin with curtains hanging off of the windows. The boy was intoxicated by the fragrance coming from inside. He quietly opened the door that led to the kitchen, where he saw a plate of cookies on the table. He was usually against stealing or taking without permission, but he felt more desperate than usual.

He picked up a cookie and took one bite, and once he did, he couldn't stop himself. The older boy was too hungry to stop, as he almost ate every cookie on the huge plate. Just then, a woman walked in and caught him eating the cookies. Christopher immediately stood up from his chair and panicked.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I just haven't eaten in days, and then I smelled your cookies and I-I just…"

Christopher was confused as the woman smiled and gave a little laugh.

"It's quite alright, dear." Christopher was still confused. "You mean, you're not angry with me?" The woman continued to laugh. "Of course not, but you are going to have to something to repay me for those cookies." Of course there was a catch.

"Um, yes ma'am, I'll repay you." The teenager held his hand out. "My name is Christopher, by the way." The woman gave the boy a smile as she extended her hand. "Many know me as 'Adelaide of the pasture, the good woman of the woods.'"

"Adelaide." The boy said to himself. "I think I've heard of you before." The lady smiled. "You know, those cookies were for my sister. She's coming over for dinner tonight, so would you mind helping me set the table?"

"Oh, uh, yes, I'll, I'll go set the table." Adelaide turned to leave the room. "You are welcome to join us tonight if you wish."

"Oh, yes, thank you, Ms. Adelaide." 

* * *

><p>Later in the evening, Christopher and Adelaide were sitting at the dinner table when a knock was heard at the door. Adelaide stood and answered the door. Standing at the door was a beautiful young lady, much like Adelaide.<p>

"Hello sister, there is someone here I would like you to meet." The two walked over to the table where Christopher sat. "This is my sister, Whispers, and this is the boy who ate all the cookies, Christopher." The teenager nervously stood and shook hands with the other woman.

"So, you're the one who ate all the cookies?" the boy gave a nervous laugh. "Well it's nice to meet you." The three sat down at the table where the dinner was already prepared. Christopher was so hungry, that he was scarfing down his food, forgetting his table manners as the two ladies just sat and watched. The boy looked up from his plate and immediately realized what was going on.

"Um, forgive me madams, but I just seem to be a bit hungrier than usual." Whispers smiled. "Well we can see that." Adelaide joined in the conversation. "He's going to repay me for those cookies he ate, by becoming my apprentice." Christopher looked up from his food.

"Wait, what?"

Whispers' smile faded. "He's going to be your apprentice?"

"Wait a second, I never agreed to being anyone's apprentice. I just want to find my brother and get out of here."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah, he, kind of got lost, and I've been looking ever since." Adelaide smiled. "I'll tell you what, you can become my apprentice until you find your brother." Christopher thought for a second. "I, I guess that would be alright, what do you do here anyway?"

A look of horror came over Whisper's face. 

* * *

><p>Later that night after Whispers had left, it was agreed that Christopher could live with Adelaide until he found his brother. Whispers had begged her sister not to make him her apprentice, but she could simply not be swayed.<p>

Now Christopher was a lost teenager in the Unknown, which was sort of fitting for him, because he was always the outcast with interest in writing poetry and playing the Viola de Gamba, also known as the Viol, not to be confused with the Viola, because the two were not the same thing.

"Christopher my boy!" Adelaide yelled "Come, there is something I want to show you!"

Obeying his new master, the teenager came out of his room and met Adelaide in her living room. "What is it?" he asked her. The woman smiled and pulled back the curtains to reveal a lever. When she pulled it, noises sounded from within the walls and a secret door opened up on the wall next to her. Christopher didn't expect to see this.

"Where does it lead to?"

"Follow me, and I'll show you."

The two started down the long stairs into a dark tunnel with almost no light to see by. When they reached the end, they came upon a lantern sitting on a dark pedestal.

"This is the dark lantern, it has powers beyond anything you could ever imagine, and only a chosen witch with powers such as myself can contain it."

"Wait, you're a witch?" Adelaide nodded. "Pick up the lantern." The boy stared at the thing with caution, and then decided to pick it up. As soon as he touched the handle, the boy felt an ear splitting shriek in his skull. He didn't know how to make it stop, so he just waited through the pain. When the pain stopped, Christopher tried his best to compose himself.

"What was that?" He finally managed to ask. "The lantern has claimed you now."

"Alright, what is that supposed to mean?" Adelaide smiled. "I am going to teach you all I know about the powers of the lantern and maybe you can use the knowledge in the future." Christopher had no idea what he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

><p>Over the past few weeks, Adelaide had taught Christopher all about the lantern and its magical dark powers. She had taught him about a rare tree called an Edelwood that the lantern could give the power to grow. The Edelwood tree was special, because it was the only tree that could keep the dark lantern lit. She would have to wait a while before she told him what the trees had to be made of though.<p>

Soon the years went by, and Christopher had slowly fallen into the lanterns curse. The master and apprentice were outside the house one sunset. "You have really grown into a fine young man, Christopher" Adelaide said "But now, you will be the master, and I will follow you." The boy smiled. "Thank you for everything, Adelaide." The two exchanged goodbyes and Christopher took off into the forest, with the lantern in hand.

* * *

><p>When night came, Christopher stood under the full moon with the lantern. He slowly transformed into the dark death of hope.<p>

"From now on" he said to himself "I shall be known as The Beast of the Unknown."

His voice changed to a much deeper, darker tone, and he had lost his accent. The Beast disappeared into the forest in search of his first victim.

* * *

><p>For these past few years, Timothy had also been looking for his brother. He hadn't seen him since the day they got into that argument. The little boy was wandering through the forest with his frog, trying to find a place to sleep for the night, when he heard the strangest thing.<p>

"Timothy!"

the boy quickly turned around at the sound of his brother's voice. When he saw nothing, he turned back around.

"Timothy!"

He heard it again.

"Christopher!" the boy yelled. He heard the voice getting closer. "Christopher, I'm over here!"

He heard his name again, but it wasn't from his brothers voice. This voice was darker and more evil sounding. "Come to me, Timothy." Just then, he saw a shadow with spooky eyes looking at him from behind a tree.

The shadow was shaped like a human and looked a lot like Christopher, but something was telling the boy that this wasn't his brother.

That night, Timothy slowly turned into and Edelwood tree from the loss of hope for his brother.

Timothy was Christopher's brother, and The Beast's very first victim.


	19. Chapter 19: Realization

Chapter 19: Realization

"Y-you turned your brother into a tree."

Wirt stared, frightened at The Beast as the story came to an end. "Yes Wirt, I slowly became myself with the powers of the dark lantern, and my own brother was my first victim." Wirt pictured the story's unhappy ending in his head over and over in his mind. "I was a lot like you, Wirt. I wrote poetry, played an instrument, and I even had a little brother around Greg's age, and it really brings me joy to see it happening all over again."

Wirt took a step back as he took in what The Beast had just said. "So, this was the other reason you wanted me. To relive your tragic past through me as someone who was so similar to you." Wirt whispered poetically.

Without another word, the teenager turned and walked off into the darkness, away from The Beast. He wasn't being followed. Wirt had been alone most of the time he was trapped inside the darkness of the mind void. Since he had no one to talk to, he started rambling to himself.

"If The Beast hurt his brother, than that means, I could possibly hurt my brother. I don't want to hurt Greg. I don't want to hurt anyone." Wirt was obviously freaking out over the curse and what it was turning him into. "I don't want to be The Beast, I don't think I could handle being The Beast. I don't want to steal people's souls or drag them into terrible fates, I-I- just can't."

Wirt had to stop walking for a minute to compose himself. He had been talking so much without taking a breath that his lungs could have exploded from the lack of oxygen.

He sat in silence for some time, thinking about the many things that seemed to have happened all too fast. In the story, it took years for Christopher to become corrupted enough to become The Beast, but for him, it took less than three months. He had thought about Greg and all the hateful things he had said to him.

The Beast was right. Wirt really had said all those things to his brother. The older boy could pick up in his memory, the very argument between him and his brother. A tear fell from Wirt's eye as he continued to think about it.

"We just seem to be drifting apart from each other as the days go by." For days, Wirt had been staying strong and using all of his willpower not to break down about his current situation, but as he continued to think about Greg, he just couldn't help it anymore. More tears started to fall from his eyes and soon, he was lying on the ground in tears.

He just felt like there was nothing he could do anymore. He couldn't save Greg or himself from this predicament, and he just felt so useless. He started to feel the same uselessness and loss of hope he felt in The Unknown.

Just then, the strangest thing happened.

Wirt felt the pressure of a hand stroking his back.

He didn't dare look up in fear of scaring away the warm, comforting presence. He remembered how The Beast told him that they were the only things there, but now, Wirt knew that wasn't true.

He decided to keep this mysterious presence a secret from The Beast, as it seemed to be the only good thing he had inside the barrier. The presence seemed young and youthful, much like Greg. It was almost as if Greg was there comforting him. Soon, Wirt fell into a peaceful slumber as his tears started to dry. 

* * *

><p>"So that's the story of The Beast." Greg looked down at the floor. "If Christopher- If The Beast, can turn his brother into a tree, then that means, Wirt can do the same to me. Beatrice sighed.<p>

"When I worked for Adelaide, she told me the story of a boy who became her apprentice, and how much she enjoyed his company. She taught him the ways of the lantern and was saddened when he left to become the master. She started following his orders and retired from magic soon after, and she wanted me to find her a child servant to replace her once loyal apprentice."

Greg continued to stare at the floor of the house in silence, pondering his thought about the story he just heard. "It must be really scary having an evil shadow that looks like your brother try to hurt you. I'm sorry this happened to you, Christopher and Timothy."

Beatrice joined Greg and sat next to him on the couch. "I know Wirt still loves you, no matter what the curse makes him say." Greg wasn't really sure anymore if that was true or not. The young boy sighed with sadness as he thought about the weight of the situation.

A tear fell from his eye and landed on the floor. As soon as the first tear fell, one started falling after the other. The teenage girl pulled the little boy into a tight embrace and started crying as well. They both cried for Wirt, and they didn't want to see him get destroyed by the same curse that took place and plagued a life a very long time ago.

The Unknown was going to have a new Beast, and the bluebird and the elephant refused to accept that.

The two pulled away from each other as the embrace ended. "We need to help Wirt." Beatrice simply stated "I'll go ask Whispers if there is anything we can do to help him." Greg nodded in understanding. "I also have to do my part in saving Wirt." Greg looked down at the ground with a new determination filling him up from within.

"I'll either bring my brother back, or get turned into a tree trying."

The teenage girl nodded in understanding as Greg continued to stare at the ground and think about how he was going to bring Wirt back. He thought that maybe somehow, The Beast story didn't have to have such a sad ending. The young boy stood up and hugged the older girl.

"Thank you, Beatrice." Greg looked up at the girl and smiled for the first time since he arrived in The Unknown. The former bluebird smiled back at the elephant. Beatrice noticed a change in light, and went to go open a widow. She saw the sun setting, and knew it was time for Greg to go home.

"Okay Greg, time for bed." Greg smiled. "Okay, I need to go home and fill Jason Funderburker in on the new plan." The two walked upstairs to the former bluebird's room, where Greg was tucked in bed.

_'Don't worry, Wirt. I'll save you from the curse and bring things back to normal. You can count on it.' _


	20. Chapter 20: Going

Chapter 20: Going

Greg slowly opened his eyes the morning after he returned from The Unknown. He was greeted by light peeking through his window and a frog sleeping next to him. The young boy got out of bed and opened the window, only to find that it was snowing outside.

Normally this would be a good thing, and Greg would just happily run out into the snow and play, but today, he just didn't feel like it. Jason woke up as he heard Greg sigh. He spotted Greg looking at the snow out the window. The young boy heard a croak and turned to acknowledge his frog.

"Oh, good morning Jason Funderburker, I didn't know you were awake." The frog croaked again and hopped over to the window Greg was looking out of and saw the white blanket of snow covering the entire yard. Winter Break had just barely begun, and they were almost no closer to freeing Wirt. Almost.

"Hey Jason, I went back to The Unknown and saw Beatrice again. She told me that she was going to talk to Auntie Whispers and find out how to stop the curse." Jason croaked. "Alright! We're going to save Wirt." The boy pulled the frog into his arms and hugged him tight. Greg sat the frog back down once the hug was over and continued to stare back out the window.

His parents weren't home yet, so he could do whatever he wanted until they got back. Wirt still kept himself locked up inside his room, and there was nothing Greg could really do about that. Greg took Jason downstairs with him so they could get something to eat for breakfast. Greg poured some cereal into a couple of bowls for him and his frog, and the two ate in silence.

Greg just continued to stare down at his cereal, eating while thinking up a plan. Jason was thinking along with Greg. As Greg finished his cereal, he put his bowl in the sink and took his frog back upstairs. He couldn't help but sigh as he passed his once brother's room. Walking past a few more doors, Greg finally stopped at his own.

He opened the door and carried his croaking frog inside, where he sat the frog back down on the bed. Greg sighed in thought as he continued to look out the window in deep thought. The cold air from the outside blew into the room. Greg shivered a little, but still didn't bother to close the window, at least not yet.

He turned and looked back up at the picture that reminded them of their goal. He looked back out the window, and it just seemed to be getting colder. The wind blew sharply through the window, but Greg didn't seem to acknowledge it. He just stood there, lost in his thoughts. Those thoughts had always consumed him from sunup to sundown and they just seemed to be getting worse.

Greg could see his cold breath as he sighed. Jason was worried that Greg would catch a cold or something if he continued to stay there, but Greg paid no mind to the frog, as he was still lost in his thoughts. 

* * *

><p>Wirt was seething with hatred as he had been doing for weeks now. His poetry was only getting darker and more hateful. He hadn't eaten or drank anything in weeks and he was starving himself and dying of thirst, but he didn't care. According to him, the curse was all he needed to sustain himself.<p>

He continued to hold his poetry journal tightly to his chest, as it was the only thing he still loved. He hadn't been sleeping much, and his eyes were tired. He had only slept when it was that bad, and when it was that bad, he slept in for a long time.

He noticed that the room had gotten just a tad bit colder, and when he looked out the window, he saw that it had snowed. He was perfectly fine with the cold of course, and he didn't mind it a bit. He had been hearing voices whisper to him lately. He had been listening, but other than that, he hadn't acknowledged them otherwise. He was just waiting for their commands.

"Come to The Unknown."

The voice whispered. Well finally, Wirt had been waiting forever for that order. The older boy got out of his bed and walked over to the window and saw the fallen white snow. He grabbed his gnome hat and his poetry journal and unlatched the window.

The window slid open and Wirt stuck his head out to look down at the fallen snow from the two story window he was about to jump out of. The older boy clutched his journal near him, and jumped out the high window. Wirt landed safely in the snow. He got up and started running toward where he and Greg almost drowned.

Into The Unknown.

* * *

><p>Greg had continued to look out the window all morning, lost in thought. He was freezing, but he still didn't want to close the window. Jason had joined him next to the ledge, not worrying about catching a cold anymore, as the frog was also lost in his own thoughts.<p>

Just then, the frog and the elephant spotted something outside the window. They spotted a figure that seemed to have a long cape and a red pointed hat.

"WIRT!"

The two panicked. Greg hurried and got some warm clothes on and he picked up his frog, ran downstairs, then out the door after his brother. Greg was able to get close to his brother but he couldn't get close enough to where he could tug on his cape to try and make him stop. It wasn't until they were nearing the graveyard that Greg figured out where Wirt was headed.

"Oh no." Greg whispered to himself, his eyes widened in horror. "Wirt, stop!" the older boy didn't acknowledge his little brother's warning or even the fact that his little brother was running after him in the first place. They ran through the grave yard entrance, and started running past all the gravestones. Greg could have sworn he saw some names from people they met in The Unknown engraved on some of them.

The two boys kept running. Wirt was headed for the graveyard wall and Greg knew that he had to stop his brother before he got there. Greg tried reaching out to grab his brother's cape again, but he wasn't able to grab ahold of it.

Wirt quickly ran up and over the wall and hopped on the other side. Greg climbed up and hopped over the garden wall after his brother. Wirt ran past the train tracks with a worried Gregory and a worried Jason following him. Wirt ran down the hill, careful not to start tumbling down and Greg was also trying to keep from rolling down the steep hill.

The lake at the bottom was frozen, but as soon as it was close enough, Wirt jumped and crashed into the frozen ice, breaking it and giving access to the water underneath. The older boy slowly sank deep into the lake.

"WIRT!"

Greg tried reaching for him, but his brother already sank to the bottom too fast. He would have fallen in, if it wasn't for Jason pulling him away from the water's edge.

A tear fell from Greg's eye as he remembered the events that had just happened. Before the young boy knew it, tears were falling out of his eyes one after the other. Wirt was going to The Unknown to become the new Beast, and Greg just knew he had to do something to stop it.


	21. Chapter 21: Rescue

Chapter 21: Rescue

Greg continued to sulk as he thought about the event that occurred hours ago. His parents had already come home, and they were completely unaware that Wirt wasn't even in his own room. His body was drifting hopelessly inside the freezing lake they both fell into the first time. Jason croaked a saddened croak.

Greg stared at his assignment, knowing he would never get it finished at this rate. Winter Break would soon be over in a couple of weeks, and the deadline was coming up soon, but Greg just didn't feel like he could continue.

"What are we gonna do, Jason?" the frog could do nothing but croak in sadness. Greg closed his eyes for a second and thought. When he opened them back up, he sighed again for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Greg felt a cold chill coming from the outside, but he really didn't acknowledge it too much due to the certain predicament.

The younger boy got up from his desk chair and walked over to his bed where Jason Funderburker lay sad and worried for Wirt. Greg slid into bed and pulled the covers over him and Jason and then he pulled the frog into a tight embrace. "I know it hurts, but…we'll get through it somehow, I just know we will." A tear fell form Greg's eye as did one from Jason's eye.

The thought of never seeing his brother scared Greg. He wished that Wirt could be right there with him, comforting him and telling him that everything is okay. But of course Greg knew that it couldn't happen right now, but hopefully if Greg could save him, then maybe there was a way. It began to snow outside again and the room started to feel colder than before, but Greg and Jason were hidden under the covers, so it really didn't matter to them.

Greg got out out of bed and walked back over to sit in his desk chair. He eyed his essay over again, trying to find a new determination.

Then he realized something.

Greg read through the essay with wide eyes, determined not to miss a single detail. Jason was concerned about Greg's actions and decided to watch as he kept looking at the paper. The cold wind pierced through the room, but Greg was too busy scanning through his assignment to notice. The younger boy looked up from his paper with wide eyes.

"I just figured out how to save Wirt." 

* * *

><p>Wirt kept walking through the darkness as he mostly did these days, either talking to himself, or singing a depressing song, reciting depressing poetry, or not saying anything at all. He wasn't doing anything but walking at the moment. He had no other goal except to get out of the void, but that wasn't currently possible at the moment.<p>

He stopped for a second and closed his eyes as he collected his thoughts. He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes again. All of a sudden, a huge sound exploded form outside the barrier. The loud sound caused the ground to shake.

Wirt tried to keep his balance, but in the end, he ended up falling over. He figured that the hatred must be trying to break in, and once that happened, Wirt would drown in it and die. He'd have nowhere to hide from it. He decided not to stand back up, but instead he just decided to sit for a while and think. The older boy buried his face in his hands and thought about certain things.

When he looked back up, he saw the strangest thing. He saw…a shadow, and it looked a lot like Greg for some reason. Wirt had been seeing the shadow a lot, but decided not to think too much about it. The shadow came closer and closer to Wirt as he wondered whether or not he should take it as a red flag.

Eventually, Wirt decided that shadows that look like Greg were the least of his problems right now, so the shadow approached and held out its hand to Wirt. The older boy accepted and put his hand inside the shadows. The little shadow pulled him up off of the ground.

"Uh, thank you."

The shadow nodded and gave a thumbs up before running off into the darkness. "Um, okay." Wirt sighed and started walking off into the darkness again. What was that shadow that kept helping him? It seemed sort of like Greg, but Wirt could tell that it wasn't.

Something weird was going on inside the mind void that even The Beast didn't know anything about, and whatever it was, something was telling Wirt that it was on his side and that it wouldn't be any danger to him. Wirt continued to think about the shadow as he walked off into the darkness of the mind void. 

* * *

><p>Greg was home, packing everything he needed to take with him into The Unknown. Jason would also be accompanying the boy to help save his brother. Greg was packing some essentials in a small sack. He packed some food and water and some more essential, but more importantly, he was taking his essay assignment.<p>

He knew how to save Wirt and he was going to do it no matter what, and that was a personal promise he made to himself and to Wirt. Jason croaked a croak of determination, or at least a croak that sounded like determination anyway. Greg smiled at the frog and went back to packing his things.

"Is there anything that you want to bring along?" Jason croaked in what sounded like a 'no' answer. "Okay, just tell me if you change your mind." The smile faded as Greg continued to pack his belonging for a trip that could possibly risk his life.

Going into The Unknown on purpose was a risky, dangerous thing, as it could possibly be the death of someone who tried to risk their life just to get there. Greg sighed as he thought about the huge risk he was going to take. His parents had always taught him never to gamble because you could end up losing everything, and now, Greg was doing exactly the opposite, but for a good reason.

There was a chance he would get to The Unknown though. After all, it was a place for the lost, and Greg felt lost without his brother, so chances were highly likely that Greg could enter The Unknown again as he had done these past two times visiting Beatrice.

Greg continued to pack his things as the cold air from outside made the young boy shiver a little. "Now, there's just one thing missing." Greg went over to his bed and picked up the very teapot he wore in The Unknown. "Let's do this." 

* * *

><p>The elephant and the frog headed off to the graveyard, where they had just been in a chase scene with Wirt only hours ago. Greg held Jason as they hopped over the garden wall and hopped down on the other side.<p>

Greg crossed over the tracks and tried not to tumble down the hill. The lake was still freezing, but the ice was still cracked from when Wirt crashed into it.

"Here goes nothing."

Greg took a leap of faith with his frog in hand and was caught by the freezing lake. Greg sank to the bottom, where he couldn't feel the cold anymore.


	22. Chapter 22: Transformation

Chapter 22: Transformation

Beatrice was worried sick about the curse almost as much as Greg was. The former bluebird had spoken to Whispers, and the lady told her that Greg was the only person who was capable of saving Wirt, and that Greg would have to figure out how to save Wirt on his own. She was incredibly worried for both of the brothers, and was afraid that their story wouldn't have such a very happy ending.

The teenage girl sighed as she looked out her window. It was snowing in The Unknown, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was in the other world. A knock was heard at the front door, so the bun head got up from the couch and opened the door, revealing a young boy with a frog and a teapot on his head.

"Greg? What are you doing here?" the girl asked. The young elephant had a worried look on his face and he seemed to be almost out of breath.

"Beatrice, I have terrible news."

"Well, come in then."

Greg entered the house, and the teenager closed the door when he walked in. "Sit on the couch and make yourself comfortable." Greg walked over to the couch and sat Jason down next to him. Beatrice joined the two on the couch and engaged in conversation. "What's wrong Greg?" the younger boy took a deep breath before he started.

"Wirt Is here. He came to the lake and it transported him here into The Unknown. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. And now, me and Jason are here to try and bring him back."

Beatrice stared at the boy with wide eyes. "Wait, Wirt is here?" Greg nodded. "The curse made him come here, and now he's gonna become The Beast." The elephant remembered his most recent conversation with the former bluebird.

"So, what did Whispers say?" The teenager didn't know what to tell him at first. "Um, well, she said that…the curse could only be broken by…you." Greg looked at her with a confused look. "What does she mean by that?" Beatrice had to put her thoughts together for a second. "You have to figure out how to break the curse on your own."

Greg realized he did know. "Oh yeah, that reminds me, I know how to save Wirt. I can't believe I didn't see it before." Beatrice had no idea what Greg was talking about, but still decided to trust him. Greg smiled at the girl as he decided to tell her about his plan. 

* * *

><p>Wirt kept walking silently through the forest known as The Unknown. There were trees everywhere and they just never seemed to come to an end. The Edelwood trees were still standing and were looking creepier and more lost than ever, but Wirt didn't mind all the spooky trees, because he had his own current mission at the moment.<p>

The voices from deep within the forest were beckoning for him to come nearer. The hatred from inside of him was the only thing keeping him alive and going. He still had his poetry journal with him, filled with all his dark poetry and dark thoughts. He had torn out some of his other poems about his love for Greg or other poems that weren't dark and evil.

As the voices kept beckoning, Wirt kept walking through the endless dark forest of Edelwood trees with creepy faces engraved on them. He knew what was about to occur, and he was perfectly okay with it, but right now, The Beast showed more emotion than he did. Night had fallen quickly, which only helped to set the mood even better for the events that were about to occur.

"Come to me, Wirt."

The voices echoed inside his head as he drew nearer and nearer to the heart of the forest. Once he arrived at the heart, he came face to face with the dreaded Beast of Unknown legend. The dark lantern was sitting on an Edelwood stump. The whole area was very dimly lit with only the light coming from the lantern and from the moon to give them any sight.

"I assume you know why I called you here."

The Beast spoke, the light so dim that his face couldn't be seen. Wirt looked up at The Beast with a dimly lit face as well, and with an unearthly look in his eye.

"Yes master."

Wirt spoke in a monotone voice. the teenager walked toward the dark lantern and stood before the stump. "You know what to do." The Beast said as he watched the boy. Wirt reached out and put his hand on the lanterns handle.

A blue light consumed the entire area, and Wirt wasn't reacting to it one bit. The lantern started to glow a darkish blue color, and soon, the ground started to shake and a huge explosion erupted of the blue light that shot up all the way to the sky, alerting many denizens of The Unknown.

As soon as the light died down, it had been shown that Wirt had a dramatic change in appearance. He was now an evil shadow with a cape and a pointed cone hat, and bright white eyes that looked truly menacing and evil.

"Perfect" The Beast said "Now you will become my apprentice and I will teach you everything I know about stealing lost souls." Wirt just continued to stare at The Beast with his emotionless eyes.

"Yes, master." 

* * *

><p>Greg, Beatrice, and Jason had made their way outside as Greg was still telling the two more details of his plan. The young elephant was sure that his plan would work, and he was sure that he was going to save Wirt, his brother and his hero.<p>

The moon was high in the sky and was making its way even higher. There were no stars out due to the clouds in the sky, though. Jason croaked what sounded like a suggestive croak, and Beatrice continued to listen in on the plan.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake from underneath them, and the earthquake got more violent as the seconds passed. Beatrice tried to keep her balance, but she was knocked down to the ground. Greg was still holding Jason when he lost his balance, and Beatrice grabbed onto the young boy and pulled him in tight, waiting for the earthquake to end already.

That's when they saw it.

A giant beam of darkish blue light shot up from somewhere deep within the forest, and the three had a feeling that Wirt was involved in it. The light soon faded and the ground ceased its shaking. The three of them had to take some time to calm down after the event that just happened.

"Are you okay Greg?" Beatrice asked. "I-I think so. Are you okay Jason Funderburker." The frog croaked a croak that still sounded a bit frightened, but still okay. The tree got up off of the ground and dusted themselves off.

"I think that may be where Wirt is." Greg said, with a slightly saddened voice. Beatrice nodded in agreement. "I know, I think he's there too."

"What happened to him? Why was there and explosion and an earthquake at the same time?" The teenager sighed. "I don't know Greg. Come on, let's just go inside." Greg nodded, and the two headed inside the former bluebirds house, unaware that The Beast of The Unknown, finally had an apprentice.


	23. Chapter 23: Timothy

Chapter 23: Timothy

Wirt sighed. There was absolutely nothing to do except walk, sit, sing, or recite poetry. It was so boring. He had no one to talk to or anything. Lately he had been busy writing poetry in his head and he learned to memorize it all very well. He didn't sleep often, because he never felt like he needed it anymore.

He felt lonely without even The Beast to talk to. The Beast had long since left the mid barrier in order to transform Wirt even more into the new Beast. It was so lonely and boring walking all day without even a single soul to talk to. Wirt groaned in frustration at all the boredom. He just kept walking and walking as if he were actually trying to get somewhere.

The teenager was mind numbingly bored and could literally do nothing about it. All he could see was darkness everywhere and it was all he could see all the time and even that eventually became old and boring. Maybe sleeping was a better option because it was less boring, but then Wirt might have to deal with nightmares and such, so maybe it wasn't exactly the best idea.

A loud noise thundered off of the walls outside the barrier. It had been happening a lot lately as the hate continued to break in. another loud sound was heard, but this one was a bit different. It kind of started out quiet, but grew louder and louder. The ground started to shake and continued to shake with more force as this certain sound grew louder.

There had never been an earthquake in the mind barrier before, so this was new and a bit exiting. Well, at least Wirt wasn't bored anymore. The ground was shaking with such magnitude that Wirt couldn't even keep standing up anymore. He fell on his side and struggled to get up off of the ground. His attempts were futile, so he just continued to lie on the ground and wait for the strange earthquake to pass.

The earthquake was the first interesting thing to happen to the teenager in a while, and he was already regretting his complaints about being bored. He just wished that this infernal earthquake would end already. His head started to hurt and the hurt grew into a splitting headache that reminded him of that one time taking Greg to school.

The headache became so bad, that Wirts eyes closed shut and the teenager blacked out on the ground once again.

* * *

><p>Wirt woke up a little later. His headache was gone, but he wasn't in the dark mind void anymore. Instead, he was surrounded by a field of many different flowers. "What the…?" the teenager had no idea what was going on.<p>

He stood up from the bed of flowers he was resting on and started walking, hoping to find an answer. All was silent in the field of flowers and all seemed calm.

"Wirt!"

That voice. That familiar voice that Wirt had been longing to hear for quite some time now. "Greg!" the teenager quickly turned around and looked everywhere, but he could not see a person in sight. Shrugging it off, the boy continued to walk through the field of flowers.

As he kept walking, he saw something in the field that wasn't a flower. It was…a person. Wirt recognized the little boy picking the flowers in the distance. "Greg!" the older boy yelled as he started running towards his brother. The younger boy immediately turned and saw his brother. "Wirt!" The two brothers kept running toward each other, ready to pull each other into a tight hug.

As soon as Greg was close enough, Wirt pulled his younger brother into a tight hug and at the moment, was the happiest he had ever been in a while. The happiness soon faded as Wirt looked back at his brother and saw that he was slowly turning into a tree. All color drained from Wirts face.

The field of flowers was gone, and instead there was a giant room filled with mirrors. Greg had disappeared and couldn't be found anywhere. Wirt looked inside a mirror and saw himself as a shadowing image of The Beast with a cone hat and a cape. he looked right into his bright white spooky eyes.

"No no no no, this can't be happening."

It didn't matter where Wirt ran. There were mirrors all around the giant room, showing Wirt what he was to become. 

* * *

><p>"Are you okay? Please wake up."<p>

Wirt heard a voice next to him as he struggled to open his eyes. He was able to focus on a worried person who seemed to be around Greg's age, who was wearing a cooking pot on his head.

"Ugh, Greg?" the boy shook his head.

"You were having a nightmare." The boy said in an accent that sounded British. Wirt sat up and was able to focus on the figure in front of him. "What's going on?" the tall boy asked.

"You were mumbling in your sleep and your nightmare just seemed to be consuming you, so I had to wake you up."

"Um, who are you exactly?" The boy hesitated before he answered.

"I'm…Timothy."

Wirts eyes grew wider. "Wait, Timothy? As in, Christopher's little brother Timothy, from The Beast backstory?" the young boy nodded. "Come take a walk with me and I'll explain everything." 

* * *

><p>Wirt and Timothy were silently walking through the dark mind void for some time before Timothy started explaining what was going on.<p>

"This all started a long time ago, after my brother- you know." Wirt nodded and let the young boy continue. "I was his first victim, but after that something strange happened. I don't know how, but I became a shadow of my former self. I was always following The Beast as a lost shadow, and he was never aware of it. I've seen every victim he's ever had turned into a tree and I've always felt sorrow for each and every one."

Wirt stopped him for a second. "So, you've been following The Beast as a shadow all this time and he never knew. How did you do that, exactly?" Timothy shrugged. "Everyone has a past haunting them, at least that's what it said in one of Christopher's poems."

Wirt smiled as he remembered that there was someone long ago in history who looked, talked (well, if Wirt had a British accent), acted, and even had the same hobbies and interest as him. It was almost a scary coincidence. He thought that if The Beast never became The Beast and their times were closer together, that the two of them could be very good friends.

"I took in particular interest, a certain victim who wore a teapot on his head, and a regretful big brother who ended up saving him and figuring out the lantern's secret. The young lads name was Gregory if I'm not mistaken." Timothy looked up at Wirt, who nodded with a saddened look on his face. Timothy turned away and began to speak with a lower, more saddened tone.

"That's when I knew that The Beast already had an apprentice in mind." Timothy looked back up at Wirt, sadness and sorrow still present. "I entered your mind void to help guide you on the right path and to help stop you from becoming the new Beast. Because The Beast was present here, I could only help you as a shadow, but since he's not here, I can help you like this."

"Wait a second, you were the shadow that's been helping me?"

The young boy nodded and smiled. Wirt smiled in return. "You know, you remind me a lot of Greg." "And you remind me a lot of Christopher. He was always writing poetry and playing the Viola de Gamba. He was such a dork." Wirt smiled at Timothy's attempt at lightening the mood.

"Hey Timothy, what exactly is a Viola de Gamba?"


	24. Chapter 24: Searching

Chapter 24: Searching

Greg walked through the forest of The Unknown alone, trying to figure out what might have happened to his brother and how he could possibly stop it. It was dark since night fell. The young elephant didn't know what to do and he just felt so lost.

If there was any hope left for him and his brother he couldn't see it, at least not at the moment. His mind and heart just felt so foggy and he felt so useless. Deep down he hoped this was just a horrible nightmare and he would wake up and creep into his brother's room and ask to sleep with him. Greg closed his eyes and collected his thoughts for a second. His eyes remained closed until he heard something in his ear.

"I'm here, Gregory."

Greg's eyes immediately opened as he looked around and tried to determine where the voice came from. All he could see was the dark forest surrounding him. Greg sighed and figured that it was just his imagination, but something deep, deep inside was telling him that it wasn't. He didn't listen to the deep inner voice however.

"Come and see me, Gregory."

The young elephant's eyes shot around the forest, but he still couldn't find the source of that strange voice. Greg realized that being out in the forest alone that late at night, especially with a new Beast around, probably wasn't such a good idea, so he thought it might be a better idea to head back inside.

The boy started walking back to the former bluebird's house, but as he kept walking, he realized something. He had no idea where he was or how to get back. This was so bad. He couldn't stay out here, because who knows what could be lurking out there in the dead of night.

Greg ran through the scary woods as fast as he could and passed all the spooky looking Edelwood trees. He almost tripped a few times, but somehow he managed not to.

"I'm here. Come to me."

He just couldn't get the chilling voice out of his head. All of a sudden, Greg stopped, frozen by what he saw. Standing before him, was a tall dark shadow with a cape and a pointed cone hat. The Apprentice's eyes were evil and soulless and they looked ready to steal Greg's soul in an instant.

"Come with me Gregory."

Greg looked at the figure, frightened.

"W-Wirt?"

The Apprentice merely laughed a laugh that was so dark and bone chilling.

"Wirt. There is no such person as Wirt."

"B-But, Your my brother, Wirt."

The Apprentice gave off another chilling laugh.

"You fail to understand, Gregory. While Wirt may have once existed, he is long gone now."

"No, that can't be true."

The Apprentice laughed.

"Come Gregory. Come with me."

"N-No."

Greg turned and started running in a random direction, hoping to somehow evade the new Beast. Greg just wanted this horrible nightmare to end already.

* * *

><p>"WIRT!"<p>

Greg shot up from the bed in a cold sweat. Beatrice was awakened immediately and rushed over to Greg's side. "What's wrong? What happened?" Greg started to calm down as he realized it was just a nightmare. "I-I had a nightmare about…" Greg shed a tear as he said the last word. "Wirt."

The former bluebird continued to hug the young elephant and tell him that everything would be alright. Greg sobbed into his friend's arms. He had been having nightmares a lot recently, and all of them being about the curse on his brother. Greg was scared and he had no idea what to do anymore. He just hopped that it wasn't too late to save him.

After a while, Greg started to get tired again and wanted to go back to sleep. Soon after that, Beatrice had an idea. It was a very risky idea and also one that could scar Greg emotionally, but if there was even the slightest chance at getting Wirt back, she knew they had to do it.

"Greg, if we're going to get Wirt back, then we need to find him." Greg looked up at Beatrice. "I know, and I really want to save him." Beatrice nodded. "Alright, after breakfast tomorrow, you, me and Jason are gonna head out and try to find him, okay?" Greg nodded in understanding.

"Okay, I just want to go back to sleep right now." Beatrice nodded and kissed Greg goodnight. "Alright Greg, just call me if you need anything. Good night." Greg smiled up at the girl. "Good night Beatrice." The bluebird smiled and left Greg to sleep.

* * *

><p>It had been a while since Wirt and Timothy had started walking through the mind barrier.<p>

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" The cone head asked.

The little boy didn't answer right away. "We're looking for…something special." Wirt raised an eyebrow. "Uh, your gonna have to be a little more specific." Timothy looked up at Wirt and smiled. "It's okay Wirt, you don't have to know everything." Wirt still didn't seem convinced.

"I've just been wandering around aimlessly in the darkness for who knows how long, so I would kind of like to know a little more of what's going on." Timothy smiled. "Listen Wirt, all you need to know is that there is a plan in progress that's set up to save you, so just calm down and have faith that everything will work itself out." Wirt thought for a second.

"Okay, fine, I won't ask any more questions." The two continued to walk through the darkness in silence. Wirt was actually glad that he had someone to talk to for a change instead of just being alone as he always was. It was a nice change from all the loneliness. Wirt smiled as he picked up his pace.

He still had no idea what Greg was doing outside the barrier, but as long as he was safe, that was all that really mattered. But of course, Wirt knew that Greg wouldn't exactly be at his best in this current situation and Wirt didn't want to worry his brother any and he felt his heart sink when he thought about all the things he said to him. Wirt decided not to think about it for now and just go back to following the younger boy into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Greg, Beatrice and Jason all got prepared the next morning to go out and search for Wirt and hopefully bring him back. Greg easily got packed since most of his stuff was already packed when he entered The Unknown. Beatrice had a bag of her own and started packing things she would need for the trip. Jason just sat by and watched as everything happened and also croaked occasionally.<p>

Beatrice's mother offered them some things to take with them to help on their trip. Of course it wasn't going to be easy, but they at least had to try if they were ever going to save Wirt. Greg picked up his frog and walked out the door with Beatrice as they said goodbye to her mother.

The three set off for the forest, searching for The Beast's new apprentice. Greg was feeling a little uneasy at the moment, so he looked up at Beatrice. "Um, Beatrice." "Yeah Greg?" The boy was hesitant before continuing. "Um, when we find Wirt, will he be scary like in my nightmares?"

Beatrice wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. She knew she should be honest with her answer, but she was still hesitant. "I don't know Greg." The elephant looked down at the ground. "Okay."

And so the search for The Apprentice went on and the tree searched in hopes of bringing one of The Unknown's greatest heroes back from a terrible fate.


	25. Chapter 25: Parting

Chapter 25: Parting

The search for The Unknown's new apprentice went on for some time. After a few days, Greg had time to think about things. He thought about what would happen after they saved Wirt and thought that things might not be the same afterward.

He even thought that Wirt might not even love him anymore and it saddened him to think that it could be true, but his still loved Wirt and he was going to do whatever he could to save him. Greg tried to keep up with his former bluebird friend while keeping his frog clutched in his arms.

"Hey Greg, do you think it would be a good idea to stop for lunch?" The young elephant snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at his former bluebird friend. He nodded excitedly, as he was feeling hungry at the moment and he thought that food would help take care of that. "Yeah, I'm hungry." Beatrice smiled at the young boy's eagerness.

She opened up her bag and pulled out a blanket that was rolled up. She unrolled it and spread it out on a flat open space that was big enough to set it down on. Beatrice pulled some sandwich supplies out of her bag and started making one for Greg, Jason, and herself. The trio of heroes ate for some time until it was decided that it would be a good idea to continue with the journey.

Greg didn't really have anything to say during the entire trip because he was always lost in thought. His brother was out there somewhere probably corrupted by now, but Greg knew there was still hope, maybe there wasn't a lot left, but it was still there. He just hopped that it wasn't too late.

Of course Beatrice had noticed his silence for days and she knew what he was always thinking about. She decided for the past few days to leave Greg in his thoughts, but he needed some color to snap him out of it for a little while. "Hey Greg, do you wanna look at some birds to pass the time?" Looking at birds wasn't the most fun thing, but it was all she could come up with at the moment.

Greg looked up at her with a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea." The two spotted birds in the tree and in the air, and for once during their trip, Greg didn't feel held down. He felt free. Free like the birds flying through the air.

* * *

><p>Wirt and Timothy had been walking for some time and Wirt still had a bunch of questions. He didn't ask them though because Timothy kept telling to have faith. About what, he wasn't sure, but he just had so many questions and he wanted answers badly. Something big was going on and he feared that the worst was yet to come. The confused pilgrim sighed and broke the silence.<p>

"Are you okay?" The younger boy asked. Wirt sighed again. "Yeah, I guess, I just have so many questions and I'm tired of seeing darkness wherever I go." Timothy sighed. "I know Wirt, just be patient and everything will work out." Wirt looked at the ground and sighed. "Okay."

The continued to walk wordlessly as Wirt continued to mentally go over his huge list of questions. Timothy kept saying that he needed to find something but he didn't know what. There was nothing but darkness for what seemed like miles and Wirt thought that there could be nothing else but darkness in this barren mind void.

The void shook again as another wave of hate crashed up against the outside. It shook the ground a little but the sound was dull, meaning that it came from one of the farther walls. It had been doing that a lot lately as the hate was becoming stronger and trying to break in more frequently.

The time would soon come when the hate would get strong enough to overpower the mind barrier and break through and all the hate would flood in and Wirt would drown in it, leaving every piece of his former self gone without a trace. Another pounding was heard in the distance. Wirt determined that the mind void was huge but he couldn't really know for sure.

He usually felt like he was just going around in circles with no goal in life. He had a goal, he just had no idea how to accomplish it. Another loud noise blasted but this time it sounded a bit closer. It was becoming more frequent day by day and each day Wirt wondered if today was the day that the hate would be breaking through.

"Wirt, look."

The older boy was brought out of his thoughts by Timothy's voice. He looked over at where the younger boy was pointing and saw a little orange fire flickering in the distance. Wirt was surprised because he didn't think that anything else existed inside the barrier.

The two went over to it and Wirt got down and put his hands near the flame. It was the brightest and most colorful thing that he had seen in a long time. Timothy smiled as he watched how Wirt was enjoying himself for the first time in a while. That was only going to make saying these next few words harder to say.

"Well Wirt, I guess this is goodbye."

The older boy looked at him, confused. "Wait, what?"

"This is goodbye. I have to go now."

"What? Go where?"

Timothy had a bit of sadness in his expression. "I'm sorry Wirt, but I have to leave the mind barrier."

Wirt had to take a second to take in what he was just told.

"You mean, you knew of an exit this whole time and you never told me about it?"

"Even if I did tell you, you wouldn't have been able to get out since this is your barrier."

"So wait, you're leaving me?"

Timothy's expression had a touch of sadness.

"I don't want to leave you here, but I have to leave if you ever want to get out of here."

Wirt still didn't understand. "I've been alone in the darkness for a long time and now I finally have someone to talk to."

Timothy sighed. "I know Wirt, just trust me, everything will be okay."

The two stayed silent for a while. Wirt was still processing his thoughts on the situation. The silence went on for a while, until Wirt spoke. "Alright, I guess this is goodbye then." Timothy nodded.

"I'm sorry Wirt, but just remember to have hope and look on the bright side of things." Wirt gave a small smile.

"That sounds like something Greg would say."

Timothy smiled. "Goodbye Wirt." The young boy hugged the flame in his arms and was gone in an instant. Wirt sighed as he thought of going back to being alone. He started walking again and humming to himself in the darkness. Alone again.

* * *

><p>The sun would soon set and Greg, Beatrice, and Jason were no closer to finding Wirt than they were when they first started.<p>

The explosion came from somewhere near the heart of the forest so they thought he might be somewhere around there, but since The Beast could be lurking anywhere, they decided to just keep looking in random places in the forest.

The sun would soon set and they would soon have to find a place to sleep for the night. They couldn't sleep outdoors because of The Beast, so they would have to find a nearby inn to sleep in. as the sun sat in the distance, Greg sighed. They weren't any closer to finding Wirt and he felt that if they didn't find him then they would lose their last chance at bringing him back.

The three watched a sun shone it's last few rays of sunlight before it completely faded into the distance.

"Come on Greg, let's go."

The young boy nodded and the three started walking through the darkness. As they walked through the dark forest, they started to hear something that kind of sounded like voices. They quietly followed the sound until they came to a clearing in the forest.

And there they saw, standing and talking, was The Beast and his apprentice. Greg's eyes widened as he looked over his brother. He looked exactly how he did in Greg's nightmares.

Greg froze when The Apprentice faced their direction.

This was it.

They were finally going to face off with each other and hopefully bring Greg's hero brother back in the end.


	26. Chapter 26: Feeling

Chapter 26: Feeling

It was so boring just walking through the darkness alone once again. Wirt had gotten used to finally having someone to talk to, but now it was time for him to go back to being lonely. Wirt hated this darkness and he longed to escape and to hug his brother again.

This was so boring and Wirt thought that if this continued any longer than he would lose his mind. The teenager felt frustration build up inside of him and he just didn't think he could handle it anymore. He let out a frustrated snarl and got down on his knees in anger.

"COME ON, JUST DROWN ME ALREADY!"

Wirt slammed a fist down on the ground in anger and before he knew it, hot tears started falling from his eyes. He hated in there and he wanted nothing more than to get out. He couldn't escape it no matter what he did. Even when he closed his eyes it was still there.

Sometimes he would look at the blue in his cape or the red in his hat just to try and keep his sanity, but now, it seemed that even that was starting to wear off. He couldn't take it anymore, he just wanted out of this mind prison. It was driving his insane and he just couldn't hold it in anymore. Wirts tears continued to fall to the ground and feeling the wet tears seemed to be the one thing that assured Wirt that he was still there and actually alive, at least for now.

He just wished that the hate would just break in already and swallow him up because that couldn't possibly be a more worse fate than this. But then he thought about Greg. He thought about how Greg was just waiting for his favorite and only older brother to return to him. Wirt smiled a little as he pictured his brother's image inside his mind.

The tears still fell, but now Wirt was smiling. His brother was waiting for him and he had to return to him as soon as possible so he could scoop him up in his arms and never let him go. He wiped away some more tears and his smile grew wider.

"Don't worry Greg, I'm coming home, just you wait."

He could do nothing but smile as he thought of his brother and what it would be like when they finally reunited. 

* * *

><p>Greg, Beatrice, and Jason froze as they were spotted by The Beast's new apprentice.<p>

"It seems we have intruders."

The Apprentice spoke in a voice so bone chilling that it sent a chill down Greg's spine. The Beast turned in their direction and immediately recognized the trio. "Well, it seems you've found your brother's remains at last, Gregory." The elephant clenched his fists together in anger. The Apprentice only stood and stared with a cold, steely, soul sucking expression. The Beast continued. "I'm afraid that your brother is no longer here, and now what's left of him is mine now."

Greg had mixed feelings of fear and rage, but he dared not to show either of them. Greg handed Jason over to Beatrice and stepped forward. The former bluebird kept a very close eye on him to make sure nothing happened. Greg was able to successfully meet his former older brother's stare. Then he spoke.

"Wirt, I know you're in there somewhere, you just have to be. Please Wirt, please just remember your true self. I know you still love me, so please just snap out of this."

It was silent for a while after Greg got done saying what he wanted to say. Greg was eagerly waiting for a response while Beatrice and Jason were watching and waiting in suspense. After a while, The Beast started to laugh. He laughed loudly at Greg's attempt to bring his brother back, knowing that it would never work in the first place.

"You naive boy, words alone won't bring your brother back. He's too far lost within the curse to ever be brought back from it. He is a heartless and soulless being now, he cannot feel love for you or feel anything at all." The Beast looked the boy in the eye as he said the next few worlds.

"You will never see your brother again."

Greg's expression faltered a little at these words, but Greg couldn't believe them, he just couldn't. The Beast laughed again and turned to his apprentice.

"Finish him."

Greg's eyes widened. The Apprentice tilted his head up at the boy in front of him.

"As you wish, master."

All of a sudden, The Apprentice shot from where he was standing like a bullet. Greg didn't have any time to react. The Apprentice wrapped his hands around the young boy's neck and lifted him in the air and tightened his grip. Greg was slowly losing consciousness from a lack of air. The Apprentice shook the young boy, trying to make him run out of breath even faster.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

A rock was thrown at The Apprentice's head where it hit the side of his skull, hard, and he was forced to drop Greg. The young boy thought that it might be his time as he slowly fell to the ground, only to be caught by a comforting pair of arms. "Come on Greg, we're getting out of here." He recognized the voice to belong to his friend, Beatrice.

They seemed to be moving pretty fast, almost as if they were running. Greg didn't know for sure because he couldn't think clearly do to his lack of air. He felt a weight on his chest, so he felt around and could feel the familiar feel of his frog. Jason croaked to let Greg know he was there.

Greg was feeling dizzy and he couldn't keep his head on long enough to process what was going on. He felt tired and decided that now would be a good time to get some rest. He decided he could figure it out tomorrow, but right now, he just wanted to fall asleep, so he did. He fell asleep in Beatrice's arms without a worry in the world. 

* * *

><p>This was really strange.<p>

Wirt was seeing images in his head.

Images that didn't belong there.

Something strange was going on, but at least it added a little variety to his monochrome dark life. He couldn't quite make out the images because they were a bit blurry at the moment, but soon they became clearer and easier to make out. Wirt could picture the images to be of someone choking, but he couldn't tell who.

Upon further inspection, it was revealed that Greg was the one being choked, but by who? Wirt was horrified to find that the image wasn't just an image, but a memory. His corrupted physical self was the one choking his brother. Wirt wore a look of horror as he realized this. He choked his own brother, but why? If he was in control, he would have never let this happen, but he wasn't in control, so chances were that he'd never be in control again.

He just hoped that Greg was okay and that the choking didn't do too much damage, or even…..Wirt didn't want to think about that.

More tears fell from his eyes, harder than they've ever done before. He felt terrible that he couldn't be with his brother to make sure he was okay. It pained him to think that he might not ever see him again. He wanted to tell him how sorry he was that he had said all those hateful things and almost tried to kill him.

Even though he wasn't in control, it was still him. He was responsible for everything that happened. His inner demons combined themselves with the curse and took over his physical self, leaving his true self locked up inside the dark void.

Wirt cried. He couldn't take this anymore. He just wanted to go home and to go back to Greg. Going home didn't bother him too much, because wherever Greg was, his home was as well.


	27. Chapter 27: Wait

Chapter 27: Wait

The rays coming from the sun peeked into Greg's eyelids the next morning. He was still feeling dizzy, but it wasn't as bad as before. His eyes had a little trouble adjusting at first, but once he did, he came face to face with some trees.

He heard a croaking from somewhere next to him. He turned on his side where his blurry eyes met his frog's. "Jason, what is going on?" He was a bit startled when he heard another voice. "Glad to see you're finally awake."

It took some time, but he registered the voice as belonging to Beatrice. He looked around and tried to focus his eyes on the triple bun headed girl and after a few minutes, his eyes were able to adjust. He sat up, hoping to make sense of his surroundings.

"Beatrice, what happened?" Beatrice was hesitant about answering that question. All of a sudden, Greg's memories of what happened the night before hit him at full force. His own demonic former brother was choking him without a care in the world other than obeying his master. It hurt Greg to know how far his brother had gone away from him.

But Greg still had a plan to bring his brother back and he was going to follow through with it even if it killed him. But, as the time went by, Greg started to feel as there was no more hope for his brother. It was depressing to think about. Greg looked up at the sky and saw that the sun had become hidden behind a bunch of clouds.

It was probably going to start raining soon, so they figured that they'd better find some shelter soon. Greg was too depressed to move at the moment and he didn't really care if it rained all over him. All he wanted was his brother back.

Greg thought back to a time before the curse, when he noticed his brother listening to a certain song. Greg had heard the song many times before and he remembered all the lyrics correctly, but the song wasn't really all that happy and cheerful. Greg was worried for Wirt and told him that if he kept listening to such depressing music, that in the end, he would end up being depressed for life. Wirt didn't think that it could happen though, so he just continued listening to it.

Greg thought back to the song and thought about how it affected their current situation. It was a really sad song and not one that Greg would typically listen to, but in this predicament, it was just perfect.

_"Sometimes waiting"_

"And then getting a chance to know"

"The world without you."

"How would it be?"

"Even though you did embrace me"

"Never so tight can I feel"

"For you, for me?"

"Those memories are long gone"

"When you feel weak and lonely"

"Is there anything left?"

"We used to be there for each other"

"But now you need me no more"

"We have tried, holding on"

"Where are we going?"

Beatrice listened to Greg's song of misery and woe and looked toward the clouded sky.

Jason croaked a saddened croak as he listened to the sad song. The sky threatened to spill with raindrops but it didn't, at least not yet anyway. The sun could no longer be seen behind the darkened clouds and that just seemed to set the mood even more.

A tear slid down the young elephant's eye as well as the former bluebird's and croaking frog's. A raindrop fell to the ground as Greg continued on with the song.

_"Even if there's one sweet dream left"_

"And even if those sweet times remain, don't fall deeply"

"Starting to realize"

"Reaching out to hold onto something"

"But it's too late, you're already too far gone"

"Life keeps moving on."

Beatrice stood from her spot and walked over to Greg, where she sat down next to him and attempted to comfort him.

"Greg, it'll be okay, we'll bring your brother back. I know that with that plan of yours, we will definitely be bringing Wirt back."

Greg looked up at the girl and smiled up at her while a tear ran down his face. "It does seem to be a pretty great plan, doesn't it?" The plan was so top secret that only a select three people (if frogs count) had clearance to know the information.

Greg was still sad even though the light hearted atmosphere did something to wash some of it away. Greg continued on.

_"Even if there's one sweet dream left"_

"And even if those sweet times remain, don't fall deeply"

"Starting to realize"

"Reaching out to hold onto something"

"But it's too late, you're already too far gone"

"Life keeps moving on"

'Life keeps moving on.' Greg thought. It pained the young boy to think that it was true and that his life would just keep moving on without his older brother to guide him. He refused to think that he could even live one second, knowing that his brother was gone forever. It just didn't seem possible. Wirt couldn't just leave him, especially not now when he needed him the most.

It was just too much for Greg to bear, which is why this plan could absolutely not fail, at all. Greg felt a tear run down his eye and onto the ground below him. Then he felt another, but realized that it wasn't a tear. Rain had started falling on them, but there wasn't much of it. Greg didn't care though about the rain, or about anything that didn't involve getting his brother back.

This was different for Greg, since he was always so happy and cheerful. Now he just felt numb. He felt nothing but numbness inside that threatened to consume him and swallow him whole. Beatrice watched the boy and was worried that he might be slipping into some sort of depression, so she pulled the young elephant into her arms and assured him that everything was going to be okay.

Greg felt another tear fall, but this time, more followed. Greg could do nothing but sob into Beatrice's arms and she could do nothing but continue to comfort him. The rain started letting up a little and the sun started peeking through the dark clouds, just brightening up the forest and all the creatures within it. The young elephant was still holding on tightly to Beatrice as if she were a lifeline. He just simply refused to let her go in this moment of crisis.

When they first met, Beatrice was just this grumpy, annoyed bluebird who just wanted to get away from the brothers as soon as possible, but since their journey progressed, she's really grown attached to them, and now, Greg looks up at Beatrice like kind of an older sister figure. The former bluebird was very skilled at that since she had a bunch of younger siblings of her own. Greg smiled as he looked up at the girl.

"Oh, and Beatrice?" The older girl looked down at the boy curiously.

"Yeah Greg?" The young boy smiled wide.

"If you want to go out with Wirt, you have my blessing."

Beatrice started blushing immediately.

"What!? Who said I ever wanted to date that dork, because I don't"

Greg looked up at her with an unbelieving expression. He didn't believe her for a second.

"I know you have a crush on him."

"B-But he already has a crush on Sara, so even if I wanted to, I-I just…"

Beatrice couldn't deny it any longer. She did have feelings for Wirt, and she did for a long time. She smiled back at the boy.

"Thanks for your blessing, Greg."

"Don't worry, I'm sure that if you treat him right, Wirt will start crushing on you in the future."

Beatrice smiled and pulled Greg in even tighter. "And don't worry Greg, we'll save Wirt, I promise."


	28. Chapter 28: Christopher

Chapter 28: Christopher

The ground shook.

Wirt tried to keep his balance but ended up falling over. The ground underneath him kept shaking, so Wirt knew that attempting to get up would be futile and pointless. He continued to kneel on the ground and wait until the shaking stopped, but it didn't.

The hate was growing more and more vicious as each day went by and it just seemed as if he couldn't go anywhere without the ground shaking or a loud booming sound being heard from somewhere in the distance. Wirt felt like he was slowly going mad, more than usual, and in his current predicament, that was saying a lot.

Another tear fell from his eyes. He had been shedding tears a lot lately, and every time he felt like crying, he thought he couldn't because he was always out of tears, but he was always wrong. Wirt started feeling like death was a better option than enduring this torture and every time he heard a thundering noise from the outside, it filled him up with hope that he would finally be taken away from this nightmare.

He knew it would break eventually, but it hadn't yet, so until then, Wirt would just have to be patient and wait, but he was slowly running out of patience. He didn't have very much patience to begin with.

All of his methods he used to keep his sanity intact were becoming more useless as the time passed. He didn't manage to find another one of those flames and even when he started his journey for the small fire, he knew it would be useless and he wouldn't come up with anything. It just gave him something that he could look forward to.

He just kept pointlessly walking for nothing other than to at least try and keep his sanity. Wirt was sad, frustrated, and alone.

The shaking seemed to stop for a little while, but Wirt knew it wouldn't last long, so he took this as his chance and got up off of the ground and started walking. He was slowly losing his sanity in that dark hole but he didn't know what to do about it. Wirt sighed and walked away into the darkness.

* * *

><p>The forest was dark that night in The Unknown. The night after Greg was savagely choked by his once comforting brother's remains. No one would dare be outdoors at that moment, because all who thought about it, knew that The Beast was always on the prowl. But this time it wasn't just The Beast. His apprentice was out and about, lurking among the shadows as well.<p>

The Apprentice looked up at the bright, full moon with his spooky, horrific eyes. The curse hadn't taken its full affect yet, but it was getting there, and The Apprentice was well aware of that. The Beast came up behind The Apprentice who continued to stare up at the moon.

"I understand you are curious, I was as well when I first felt the curse."

The Apprentice continued to ignore The Beast, but of course that was their usual relationship. As far as The Beast was concerned, The Apprentice was just another child in need of a parent to guide him and help him grow up, and all children could be stubborn at times. The Apprentice slowly tilted his head down away from the view of the moon. He shifted his wicked gaze over to the lantern that was placed on an Edelwood stump.

"Would you like to satisfy my curiosity?"

The Beast seemed to be taken aback by this question. "What?"

"You said I was curious, so go ahead and enlighten me."

He shifted his gaze over to the only source of light.

"Tell me more about that lantern."

The Beast froze for a second, processing what he was going to say, than spoke. "I already told you everything about the dark lantern. There isn't a thing you don't know about it that I haven't already told you." The Apprentice took a step forward and looked The Beast right in the eye.

"You are a terrible liar."

All of a sudden, something within The Beast snapped. His skull was enveloped in a sharp pain and he let out a horrifying shriek. The Apprentice remained unfazed and continued to watch his master in pain. The strangest thing happened. The Beast spoke, but his voice changed dramatically almost as if it didn't belong to him.

"No, I-I can't do this anymore. I-I can't continue this, I-I just can't."

The Apprentice watched his master with interest and suspicion. He had no idea what was going on, so he continued to observe.

"I'm sorry Timothy, I couldn't save you. I-I'm sorry."

The Apprentice's ears perked up. He now had more curiosity than ever. The Beast's pain faded and the death of all hope started returning to normal. The Apprentice watched him with curiosity and interest.

"Who is this 'Timothy'?"

The Beast immediately averted his gaze and turned away.

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about."

The Apprentice was becoming more annoyed as his master dodged the question.

"Tell me."

His voice was chilled to the bone and the request almost sounded like a threat. The Apprentice looked back at the lantern and came up with an idea. He turned back to The Beast and spoke.

"Someone like you who has roamed the forest for years terrifying people, agrees that image is important, right?"

The Beast turned back to the boy. "Of course it's important."

The Beast failed to notice as his apprentice gave off a cold smirk.

"And you agree that I should do whatever I can to keep my image intact, right?"

The Beast maintained his stoic expression.

"I would be teaching you nothing if I didn't teach you about reputation."

The Apprentice's smirk grew wider and he charged for the lantern and held it in his hands.

"What are you doing!?" The Beast suddenly noticed his smirk.

"You're weak and pathetic and I can't go about having a weak master."

The Beast's eyes grew wide with anger. "You wouldn't dare!"

The Apprentice gave off another one of his signature bone chilling laughs.

"Of course I would. After all, one's image is important."

The Beast glared daggers at his apprentice who wore the cold, horrifying smirk.

"Aww, poor beasty, doesn't even have anyone to put a curse on to save himself." The Apprentice spoke in a sweetly sickening tone.

"Don't do it!"

The Apprentice opened the lantern and blew it out.

The Beast let out a blood curling shriek and clutched the sides of his skull. The Apprentice charged over and started choking his former master, ensuring him a quick and painful death.

"You're weak. You were never fit to be my master. And now, I'm taking over. You should have realized this when you had the chance."

The Beast's eyes were filled with fear and were slowly closing. They shut one final time and closed forever. The Beast's Edelwood body hit the ground with a thud and disappeared into thin air. The Apprentice looked chillingly satisfied with his work.

"Pathetic." The Apprentice muttered, sounding disgusted. "I don't need a lantern to keep me alive. Now I will be The Beast of The Unknown."

Little did the apprentice know however, that he released something that would come back to haunt him. A shadow appeared behind him, unbeknownst to The Apprentice.

The shadow seemed to be as tall as The Apprentice, take away the cone hat, but it couldn't be seen very well. The shadow disappeared into the darkness, finally free once again.


	29. Chapter 29: Nothing Left To Say

Chapter 29: Nothing Left To Say

Another wave of hate crashed up against the barrier walls in the outside and then another crashed after that, an then two more managed to hit the barrier after that, and it just went on and on and on in a never ending cycle of hate. Wirt didn't need sleep to survive anymore, but even if he did, the loud, thundering noises would prevent him from doing so.

This was just sheer torture and Wirt felt that he might not be able to take it anymore. Wirt sighed in frustration. If he ever got out of there, he would do whatever he could to get this painful experience out of his head. He'd likely have nightmares about it, but this was worse than that would ever be.

He just felt like giving up.

As he kept walking, he felt a sense of hopelessness welling up inside him, which made him feel that even walking through the barrier was useless and pointless. Wirt was treading into dangerous territory and he knew what could happen when someone lost hope, considering how he almost lost Greg that way.

Wirt shuddered at the horrifying memory. He started thinking about how Greg must be doing right now and he just hoped that all the choking didn't affect him too much. Wirt had felt truly beaten, and he felt like nothing would ever get better for him and he would just end up drowning and dying in the end.

The last time Wirt had felt this hopeless was when he was in The Unknown and he felt like giving up. He learned that giving up could lead people to terrible fates and after that, he tried his hardest to never give up on anything ever again, especially not on his little brother.

Wirt went back to remembering a time when Greg would question his choice of songs because some of them sounded a bit sad and depressing, but he liked listening to them anyway. He remembered one song in particular that seemed perfect for this current situation. It was about giving up and not knowing if the way someone is doing things is right or not.

It sounded a bit depressing, but it was one of Wirt's favorites at the time but he had forgotten about its existence for a while. He felt as if this was the right moment that he'd been waiting for his entire life where he could finally sing the song and it would match perfectly with the scenario.

"Who knows, how long, I've been awake now"

"The shadows on my wall don't sleep"

"They keep calling me, beckoning"

"Who knows, what's right, the lies keep getting thinner"

"My age has never made me wise"

"But I keep pushing on and on and on and on"

"There's nothing left to say now"

"There's nothing left to say now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

Wirt sighed. He felt like he was slowly dying even though it hadn't happened yet. Hopelessness was over flowing within him and it just felt too hard to get rid of. He kept on walking and singing because he really had nothing better to do.

"Below, my soul, I'm feeling injured"

"Collapsing as it sees the pain"

"If I could only shut it out."

"I've come, too far, to see the end now"

"Even if my way is wrong"

"But I keep pushing on and on and on and on"

The words to the song came back to Wirt in full form and he remembered them all perfectly. He loved the song and he loved it even more now for some reason. Probably because it was there for him to sing.

"There's nothing left to say now"

"There's nothing left to say now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

Wirt heard another crash up against the barrier, but it sounded far away meaning that it came from a distance. Another crash could be heard but this time it was a little closer than before. After that, they'd stopped for a while so Wirt took this as his opportunity and continued.

"I keep falling, I keep falling down"

"I keep falling, I keep falling down"

Wirt could feel another crash up against the barrier, but this time he managed to keep his balance.

"I keep falling, I keep falling down"

"I keep falling, I keep falling down"

"If you could only save me"

"I'm drowning in the waters of myself"

He took some time to finish off the song.

"There's nothing left to say now"

"There's nothing left to say now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

"There's nothing left to say now"

"There's nothing left to say now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

"I'm giving up, giving up, giving up now"

Wirt stopped for a second to catch his breath. Singing non-stop could really take his breath away at times. Wirt thought back to how true the song really was and how it matched this situation impeccably. This was it. Wirt had finally given up. All of the hopelessness from inside got the better of him and was slowly pulling him inside.

He felt even more hopeless than he ever felt in The Unknown and it was dangerous. It was too dangerous for thoughts like that to enter his head, but he simply didn't care anymore. He just begged for this nightmare to be over already. He thought about Greg and thought that he may not see his brother again. If that ever did happen, then Wirt at least hoped that Greg understood how much Wirt truly loved him and he hoped that he wouldn't forget that.

If he could, he would hug Greg and tell him that everything would be okay, but he couldn't and he wouldn't be able to ever again. But he knew that Greg would be okay and that's really all that mattered to the older boy.

He smiled and remembered a time when Greg needed help with his homework because he couldn't understand it, so Wirt decided to step in and help him out. Greg got an A on that homework assignment and was really thankful that Wirt helped him.

He also remembered a time when Greg lost his first tooth. He thought he had broken it, but Wirt had assured him that it was supposed to happen and that he could get some money from the tooth fairy.

Another time, Greg felt sad because he was being bullied, so Wirt comforted him and told him that everything would be okay.

But there was also a time where Wirt came home from a very stressful day at school and Greg was there to comfort him.

Greg also shared the last piece of cake with him when he was sick, not caring about whether or not he got sick as well.

He remembered when Greg kept the secret that Wirt was the one who broke the expensive vase and said that they had no idea what happened to it.

Greg had helped him so many times that it pained Wirt to ever think that he had once taken him for granted. Wirt walked off into the darkness and continued to think about Greg. That still didn't change the fact that he might not ever see him again. There was just simply nothing left to say.


	30. Chapter 30: Broken

Chapter 30: Broken

The trio walked on through the forest in order to find The Beast and his apprentice and confront them a second time. They still didn't know that it was now just The Apprentice and now The Apprentice had become the new Beast of The Unknown. They couldn't see the sun very well through the ceiling of trees so they couldn't exactly tell what time it was.

Beatrice bit her lip as she was having an internal conflict with herself. Greg noticed but decided not to question it. Jason croaked in what sounded like determination but no one could really tell that either. Greg hummed a tune to pass the time and move them all along. Beatrice looked up and saw some birds chirping in the trees. It was then she realized that she had to tell Greg something she'd been holding back on.

"Uh, Greg, I need to tell you something."

The boy stopped his humming and looked up at the former bluebird. "What is it Beatrice?" The girl sighed.

"When I talked to Auntie Whispers about the curse, she told me a lot more than you know."

She had the elephant's full attention.

"What do you mean?" Beatrice took another deep breath and sighed again.

"She told me that in this phase of the curse, The Beast will have trapped Wirt, the real Wirt, inside some sort of barrier deep within his mind while the hate from the outside is surrounding the barrier and trying to break in. Once the hate breaks and enters the barrier, then Wirt will drown in it and there will be no trace of what he once was."

Beatrice was hesitant, but continued.

"There will be no trace of the Wirt that loves you."

Greg had to take a second to process this new information he had just been given. He looked down at the ground with an unreadable expression. Beatrice couldn't tell if he was angry with her or if he was still trying to figure things out. Greg looked back up at the former bluebird, but instead of being angry like she thought he would be, he looked at her with more of a concerned expression.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Beatrice sighed. "I was actually going to tell you before we confronted The Apprentice, but I never got the chance."

"Why not, though?"

"Because, if I did, then you would have worried even more and all that stress isn't good for a kid, or for anyone."

Greg sighed and understood. Beatrice continued on. "What you need to do is grab ahold of the dark lantern, then once you have it, you need to follow through with the plan." Greg nodded in understanding.

"Okay, I just hope it's not too late."

Beatrice smiled. "It'll be okay Greg, we'll save Wirt." Greg smiled back up at her and Jason croaked a happy sounding croak. The sun still couldn't be seen clearly so the three kept on walking toward their mission objective, which was to find The Beast and The Apprentice and to save Wirt in the end. 

* * *

><p>Another loud noise hit the side of the barrier, but Wirt wasn't surprised, it had been happening a lot lately and Wirt knew that the time would soon come when he would drown away into non-existence. The only thing that was different about the waves from today was the fact that they seemed even louder and stronger. Wirt wondered if today would be the supposedly dreaded day when the barrier would break.<p>

Finally he could get out of this eternal nightmare. Wirt closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. The barrier would break soon and Wirt had mixed feelings about it. One the one hand, Wirt didn't want to be trapped in this prison of darkness any longer. On the other hand, Wirt would cease to exist, leaving Greg brother less and his parents heartbroken.

Wirt decided to leave the subject alone for now and continued walking through the darkness. Wirt was used to the boredom by now but it was still tearing away at him and trying to consume him. He managed not to let it get the best of him though, somehow. He just excepted this mundane existence in the darkness and kept walking without a goal or anything except thoughts of finally escaping this horrid place, one way or another.

There was nothing except him inside the barrier. There was no exit so there was no other way of escape. Another loud crash was heard up against the barrier. Then another and another one after that. Something was going to happen, and it was going to happen pretty soon.

Another crash up against the wall on the outside. The noise would just never cease, but Wirt was used to all the loud noises by now and even became better at keeping his balance. But this time, Wirt heard a crash up against the wall and stopped.

He stared at the wall directly in front of him and watched intently. Another loud crash was heard up against that one wall. Wirt never took his eyes off of it. There was just something that told Wirt that something was going to happen. Thundering noise was heard from the outside and it was loud and almost threw Wirt off balance, but he stayed focused on the wall. The closer he observed the wall, the better it was for him to make something out on it.

He looked closely at what was on the wall and it appeared to be…a crack.

Wirt's eyes widened in fear. Another crash hit and she saw a type of liquid spill through the crack. Another crash, then another, then another, then finally the last crash happened, and a hole was formed. The liquid, which looked a lot like water started pouring inside the barrier.

The hate had finally broken through.

Wirt thought he would be relieved to finally be able to escape, but in fact, he felt the exact opposite. The liquid made its way over to him so he bent down and touched it, but once he did, he immediately wished he hadn't. The liquid burned like crazy so he did his best to get rid of it. Wirt already knew that this wasn't going to be as quick and painless as he had originally hoped.

Another crash was heard once again on an opposite wall and another crack was present. The liquid started pouring through that as well. For the first time in a long time, Wirt was afraid.

Scratch that, he was terrified.

He didn't know what to do in this situation and even though he had known it was coming for a while, he never prepared. Of course there was nothing he actually could do to prepare. Even though he knew it was pointless, Wirt ran. He ran through that blank barrier where another hole appeared and now there were three that Wirt knew of.

Dooms day was finally upon him, and the worst part was, he never even got to see Greg again. This was all too terrible but Wirt knew that even if he disliked the truth, he couldn't change it.

This was happening.

This was actually happening.

This was the end.

He was going to drown and die right there and there was no way out of it. Wirt felt the burning water brush up against his foot which caused him to let out a yelp. That liquid hurt, so this death would not be easy, but probably entertaining for sickos like The Beast. Not that The Beast would be watching anyway since he left the barrier a long time ago.

This place was going to fill up soon and Wirt would have nowhere to go, but for now, he just kept running while he could, even though he knew this attempt was futile. Wirt touched the liquid again which caused him to let out some tears. He was just in so much pain, but still he continued to run.

He wiped some tears out of his eyes and continued on. This was going to be the end of him and he knew that for sure. This was a terrible was to have his life end but nothing could be done about it anymore, so Wirt would just have to accept it. This was the end of him. This was the end of his life.

The only wish that Wirt had before his life ended, was that Greg would stay safe.


	31. Chapter 31: Burning

Chapter 31: Burning

The sun was going down and the hunt for The Apprentice continued on. They were getting no closer to finding him but they had to at least keep trying. Greg was feeling a lot more confident this time and now that he had this new information, there was no way that he could be beaten.

At least he hoped so. Even though The Apprentice didn't need the lantern lit to keep him alive, he still needed it to draw power from. So chances were that wherever The Apprentice was, the lantern would be as well so they could finally complete their mission and save Wirt. Jason croaked just as he did every now and then. The sun would soon be going down but they had just enough light to keep searching for a little while longer.

But of course, The Apprentice would be out and prowling after nightfall, so their chances would be better then. They just had to keep searching and hope that they would be successful in the end. Because if they weren't, nothing would get better. Jason croaked and Greg sighed. This trip seemed to be going on forever, and nothing interesting really happened to them, except for the time Greg was almost choked to death.

The young boy just hoped that his older brother was doing okay and that the hate hadn't consumed him yet. They just had to hurry before that happened, and when that happened, it was too late. If Greg could, he would lower the sun inside a teacup just to lighten the mood, but there wasn't one available at the moment. It still got pretty cold at night but at least it hadn't snowed. The cold wind blew through the forest sending a chill down Greg's spine. He longed for one of his brother's hugs to warm him up.

Greg smiled as he recalled some of those memories. Beatrice looked back up at the sun to figure out how much time they had before it got dark. Greg was far from tired. He had taken a nap all day so that he could be prepared by nightfall. Looking for The Apprentice was taking forever and it got tiring. They had even thought that The Apprentice had already found them before but didn't reveal himself to them, which could be possible, but not likely.

His hideout was most likely going to be near the heart of The Unknown so they would have to go there to find him. They just hoped he would be waiting for them when they got there. A scary thought, but it would be helpful for them. They kept on walking through the darkening forest, thinking about what would happen when they came face to face with The Apprentice.

Beatrice knew for sure that she was going to keep a closer eye on Greg to avoid another choking incident. "Hey Greg, you know the plan right?" Greg smiled up at the girl. "Yes ma'am." Greg saluted her, which caused Beatrice to laugh a little and ruffle his hair. Greg flashed her a wide grin. Jason croaked a croak that seemed to lighten the mood even more. The sun was almost gone and barely visible and the light was fading as the seconds went on.

The Apprentice would be out soon and then they might be able to give up their hunt. With the little light they had left, Beatrice used it to determine how much distance between they had left between where they were and the heart of the forest. Another breath of wind blew through and Greg shivered. Chances were that this was going to be a long night.

The sun had officially gone down for the night and nothing remained but the darkness surrounding them. The moon couldn't be seen because it was in the new moon phase. New moons usually indicated death or destruction. Considering their current situation, a new moon didn't really sound good. The walk in the dark went on for some time now and they hadn't found anything. The heard a few rustling noises and started getting suspicious, but then they realized that it was just the birds in the trees making all the noises.

The heart wasn't very far away, in fact, they were almost there. They had to be ready to face whatever monster they came face to face with, and they would be ready. They had arrived. They had approached at the heart of the forest. They went in deeper, but nothing was present.

Well, almost nothing.

"Well, well, I thought you might be poking around here again."

The three froze. "

Greg recognized the spooky, bone chilling voice. He knew who it belonged to. Greg slowly turned around and came face to face with his former brother, now known as The Apprentice. Beatrice noticed something was missing and spoke up.

"Where's your master?"

At the mention of that question, The Apprentice started laughing a laugh that could probably scar a person for life.

"That old fool. I've already done away with him. He honestly should have seen it coming."

Beatrice froze once again. "Wait, you just killed him? Wow, you are demented."

The Apprentice only laughed and took it as a compliment.

"I see you have the brother here with you. I would have though he was smart enough to not come into my presence but I guess I was wrong."

Greg shivered a little as he said that. Beatrice gave The Apprentice a cold steely glare while Jason just remained silent. Just then, Greg noticed the dark lantern in The Apprentice's hand. He knew he had to get it away from him somehow. This was the final battle.

If Greg couldn't save Wirt this time then he wouldn't be able to save him ever. He would never see his favorite and only big brother again if he didn't succeed this time. It was time for the battle to begin, and no matter how hard it may seem, Greg would fight to the very end, because for Wirt, it was definitely worth it. 

* * *

><p>This burned him so bad, Wirt didn't even know where to begin. The strange liquid known as hate had been flooding through and it eventually covered the entire barrier floor. Wirt's feet burned like crazy, and soon the rest of him would be burning as well.<p>

When Wirt imagined the hate breaking through the barrier, he didn't imagine anything like this. More holes were formed in the barrier walls and the hate was pouring through at a crazy speed, but it seemed slow enough so that Wirt could suffer this burning torture. Now he knew how certain types of birds felt when they were stuffed into an oven, especially around Thanksgiving.

If he could, Wirt would cry but he didn't think that he had any tears left in him. if this was really how he was going to leave this life, then he at least wanted Greg to know how sorry he was for all the things that he had done, but he couldn't be there to tell him anything. It seemed that the hate was only getting hotter and hotter like someone had turned the oven up.

It felt like he was standing too close to the sun, which was probably worse than standing in hate because he would burn up instantly. But at least if he was standing next to the sun then he would burn quickly instead of having to endure this flaming torture.

This was absolutely dreadful and Wirt couldn't think of a single way out of it. If he was just going to burn up and drown then he wished it would just happen already. He hated this. It was just sheer torture. He wouldn't be getting out of it anytime soon so he thought that he might as well just embrace it.

This was even worse than the time he accidently burned himself while touching the stove top. The burning hate was just filling fuller by the minute and soon, Wirt would drown and die and never be heard from again. That was a terrible way to die, but still, it was happening at that very moment.

It burned so bad and Wirt didn't want anything to do with it. It hurt so much, but still, Wirt didn't cry. He couldn't cry when he had no tears left and he couldn't cry when he knew that it wouldn't help him in any way. As time went on, the barrier was half full with hate and Wirt was struggling to stay conscious.

It wasn't easy but he was somehow managing. He was still able to keep his head above the water but it still burned bad. Before too long, the whole barrier would be flooded and there would be no place for Wirt to go.

This was it for him. he was going to die in that barrier, alone, while his vessel became corrupted in hate and was stealing the souls of all those who inhabited The Unknown. It was terrifying to think about, but it was happening. It was actually happening and Wirt would just have to accept that.

If only he could.


End file.
